DAYS after a weekend of knife attacks in the UK in which six people were stabbed to death and one critically injured in the same 24-hour period, a study has found that hospital admissions due to violent attacks are up almost 30 per cent on four years ago.
Recent newspaper reports have claimed that the UK is in the grip of a 鈥渒nife epidemic鈥� and bemoaned a 鈥渘ew orgy of violence鈥�, leading to several protests in London against knife and gun crime. But some commentators have claimed that the only increase has been in the media鈥檚 emphasis on reporting violent crime. The new study suggests that serious assault at least really is on the increase.
and colleagues at Liverpool John Moores University found that the number of people admitted to hospitals in England annually as a result of assaults increased by 29.5 per cent between 2002 and 2006 to 33,940 (Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, ).
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At 149 per 100,000 people, rates of admissions were 6.3 times as high in the poorest 20 per cent of the country as in the richest quintile. Men and Londoners were also more likely to be affected than women and other residents.
However, over the same period the that violent crime fell 14 per cent. 鈥淥ne interpretation is the severe types of violence are increasing while overall we are seeing a slight reduction,鈥� says Bellis.
鈥淭he severe types of violence are increasing while overall there is a slight reduction鈥�
