Rise in sexual offences in Brighton and Hove

Sussex Police recorded 1,215 incidents of sexual offences in the city in the 12 months to December 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 20 per cent compared with the previous year.

At 4.2 crimes per 1,000 people, that was slightly higher than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 3.1.

Around 6.1 million offences were recorded across England and Wales in the year to December, including computer fraud and computer misuse.

This was up eight per cent from 5.6 million in 2020, but roughly the same number as recorded in the 12 months to March 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of sex crimes logged by police across the two nations reached another record high in 2021.

Police forces recorded 183,587 rapes and sexual offences in the year to December 2021 – up 22 per cent on 2020 (150,748), which was previously the highest annual figure to date.

Some 37 per cent of sexual offences recorded (67,125) were rapes, a 21 per cent rise from 55,592 in the 12 months to December 2020.

There was also a rise in domestic-abuse related crime in 2021, and stalking and harassment.

It said the overall number of crimes recorded were lower during lockdowns but that there were “substantial increases" from April 2021, with certain offence types returning to or exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

The total number of offences in Brighton and Hove fell by one per cent, with police recording 25,911 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate at 88.8 per 1,000 people, compared with a national average of 85.5.

Other crimes recorded in Brighton and Hove included:

• 9,400 violent offences, a rise of five per cent
• 7,419 theft offences, down eight per cent
• 2,436 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 19 per cent
• 310 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 17 per cent
• 3,176 public order offences, up 13 per cent