Homicide rates at lowest level on record

Image source, PA

The number of murders and other killings in Scotland has followed the trend of previous years and dropped to the lowest level since records began in 1976.

The showed there were 52 victims of homicide in Scotland in 2022-23.

This was one fewer than last year and down seven on the 12 months before, both of which were record lows.

Of the homicide victims, 39 were male and 13 were female. All but nine of the 73 people accused were male.

As with the past 10 years, the most common method of homicide was with a sharp object, such as a knife, with 58% of killings happening this way.

The second most common method, as with previous years, was hitting and kicking, making up 29% of victims.

Homicide by shooting is relatively rare in Scotland, with only 17 victims shot since 2013-14, accounting for 3% of victims over this period.

Last year three people were killed by shooting.

The male victims of homicide were likely to have known their killer, with 54% killed by an acquaintance.

About 46% of female victims were killed by a partner or ex-partner.

Since the inception of a single national police service in 2013 all the 605 homicides committed have either had convictions or arrests made and are awaiting formal completion through the courts.

The murder of Tony Ferns in 2019 was Police Scotland's only unsolved case. Four men appeared in court in September accused of his murder.

'Drug-related'

The report said 34 victims were reported to have been killed in drug-related homicide cases in 2022-23, of which 25 were male.

Police Scotland said this could be due in part to an improved recording practice and better identification methods of motives where drugs played a part in the crime.

The main motive for homicide has been described as rage or fury, such as fight or argument.

As with the previous year, none of the homicides had a homophobic or racial motivation.

Other key points from the report are:

  • Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire and City of Edinburgh had the most victims. Each place had seven homicides.
  • The median age of the victims was 47, five years older than last year. While the median age of the accused was the same as the year before at 35.
  • Most of the killings took place in a residential property (67%) while 29% of homicides happened in outdoor public places.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: "Recorded crime in Scotland remains at one of the lowest levels in the past 50 years, it shows that our communities continue to be safe places to live."