Upsurge in Burnley drug offences, but pandemic sees overall crime drop

Lancashire Constabulary recorded 9,887 offences in Burnley in the 12 months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was a decrease of 12% compared to the previous year, when there were 11,186.

At 111.2 crimes per 1,000 people, that was far higher than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 77.6.

Crimes recorded in Burnley included:

313 sexual offences, a decrease of 10%

4,109 violent offences, a decrease of 4%

1,373 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 5%

248 drug offences, up 23%

89 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, up 46%

778 public order offences, down 5%

2,671 theft offences, down 28%

1,490 stalking and harassment offences, up 18%

Overall, police recorded 13% fewer crimes, excluding fraud, across England and Wales, with around 4.6 million offences in the year to March.

The ONS said the annual drop was helped by a "substantial" fall in crime during April last year, when the first lockdown restrictions were introduced.

The number of recorded crimes increased between July and September, it added, before decreasing again as lockdown measures were imposed toward the end of last year.

However, in March this year, recorded crime was higher than the previous year as the phased exit from lockdown started.

Billy Gazard, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on patterns of crime.

"There were large decreases in theft offences, such as domestic burglary and theft from the person, as more people stayed at home and limited their social contact."

But the figures did show a 28% increase in stalking and harassment offences across England and Wales in the year ending in March, compared to the previous year.

This was driven by an increase in cyber stalking cases during the pandemic, according to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

The trust, which was set up to support victims of stalking following the disappearance of Suzy in 1986, said it had seen a rise in calls to its helpline since March last year.

Violet Alvarez, spokesperson from the trust, said: "We know that domestic abuse has risen drastically during the pandemic, and this is evident in the rise of ex-intimate partner stalking cases that we have seen on the helpline."

She said specialist training across police forces and courts was needed to ensure victims were adequately cared for and understood.