February 24, 2015 10.08 am This story is over 109 months old

Lincolnshire homicide rate third highest in the country

Homicide stats: Lincolnshire has the third highest murder rate in England and Wales, according to new data.
Photo: The Lincolnite

Lincolnshire has the third highest murder and manslaughter rate in England and Wales, according to the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics.

The county had a homicide rate per million people of 16.6 in 2013/2014, with 12 murders recorded by Lincolnshire Police.

Only Bedfordshire (18.9 people per million) and South Yorkshire (16.9 people per million) had higher murder rates.

In total, 526 people were murdered in England and Wales last year, the lowest number since 1989.

According to the statistics, Wiltshire and Norfolk are the safest parts of the country, with homicide rates of 1.4 and 2.3 per million people.

The police term homicide covers murder and other types of killing including manslaughter and the killing of children under one, known as infanticide.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police said: “Obviously each and every case of murder is utterly tragic. 12 victims lost their lives in 2013/14 and that is 12 too many.

“However, the difference of one or two incidents can make a big difference to the percentage rate.

“We have also seen increases in our population figures which are not taken into account and this can skew the results.”