VIOLENT crime soared by 14 per cent in the third quarter of last year, with the most serious attacks increasing by an even higher figure, according to Home Office figures published yesterday.

Murder, conspiracy to kill and serious wounding rose by 18 per cent, and sex offences, which include rape, increased by 8 per cent.

An alarming rising trend in teenagers committing crimes while armed with guns is also highlighted. The proportion of suspects under 17 charged with a crime involving firearms rose from 11 to 17 per cent between 2000-01 and 2002-03.

However, household burglary fell by 3 per cent and theft of and from vehicles fell by 8 per cent, continuing long-term declines. Overall recorded crime was stable.

Overall, violent crime rose by 14 per cent, from 253,000 in the third quarter of 2002 to 289,000 in the same period of 2003. Within the overall figure, serious violence against the person rose from 10,000 to 11,800 and less serious violence, including harassment and common assault, by 17 per cent, from 203,000 to 238,000 offences. Sexual offences increased by 8 per cent, to 14,000, compared with 12,900 in the third quarter of 2002.

The Home Office said that part of the rise was caused by changes in police recording practices. The 43 forces in England and Wales now record as a crime any incident that the victim believes to be an offence. Police now record common assault as a violent crime even though the incident may be minor and involve no injury. Other reasons for the increase may include the drive to encourage people, particularly from the ethnic minorities, to report harassment. But criminologists said that while these reasons might explain the rise in less serious violent offences, they were a less likely explanation for the rise in more serious violent crimes.

Roger Matthews, Professor of Criminology at Middlesex University, said that two trends had emerged. Bulk property crime was falling but violent crimes, particularly more serious offences, were rising after a period of stability.

“My general feeling is that there is more sexual violence going on, accounting for the rise in sex offending, and this is linked to people being more seriously violent,” he said.

Professor Matthews said that people were blaming the rise in violence on uncertainty, the breakdown of communities and the loss of informal controls in society.

Although violent crime recorded by the 43 police forces in England and Wales increased, the results from interviews in the British Crime Survey — which does not include people under 16 or commercial crime — suggested that violent crime had fallen by 3 per cent in the 12 months to last September. Separate figures on firearms showed that gun crime in 2002-03 rose by only 2 per cent to 10,248 offences compared with a 34 per cent increase the previous year.

The figures show a huge increase in the use of replica weapons. Imitation firearms were used in 1,815 recorded crimes in 2002-03, a rise of 46 per cent on the previous year.

Robberies involving firearms fell by 13 per cent year on year and the use of handguns to commit a crime dropped by 6 per cent (5,549 offences). Firearms homicides fell to 81, compared with 97 the year before — a reduction of 16 per cent. Two thirds of all firearms offences, excluding those with air weapons, take place in London, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.

The highest number of firearm robberies occurred in public places, 70 per cent of all robberies involved the use of handguns, and sawn-off shotguns were used in 6 per cent of robberies.

Hazel Blears, the Police Minister, said: “Better police crime-recording policies mean that local forces now have a clearer picture of crime in their area and that antisocial behaviour and low-level thuggery, which are included in the violent crime figures, are more accurately recorded.”

• The Home Office announced that the mandatory five-year minimum jail term for people convicted of possessing a firearm came into force yesterday.

  Paul Cavadino, the chief executive of the National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, criticised the new sentences.

  He said: “Tough minimum sentences will have little effect on gun crime. We will tackle it effectively only by reducing the supply of illegal weapons and combating the macho, glamorised gun culture that attracts young people to firearms.”

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