THE number of people kicked and beaten to death has risen by 60per cent since 1997, raising fears that street brawls are becoming increasingly lethal.

Senior murder detectives said that many cases occur on Friday and Saturday nights and the incidents are fuelled by heavy drinking by large groups of young men. But in some incidents victims were set upon for no reason, often simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Caroline Flint, a junior Home Office Minister, said yesterday that often low-level thuggery on the streets spiralled out of control because of excessive drinking and led to death or serious injury. She said: “We estimate that alcohol is behind about 60per cent of all violent incidents.”

Figures published by the Home Office show that the number of people kicked or beaten to death in England and Wales rose from 99 in 1997 to 160 in 2002-03. Twice as many people were kicked and beaten to death in 2002-03 as were shot. The increase in the number of people being killed in this way since Labour came to power is almost twice as high as those who have been stabbed. Between 1997 and 2002-03, the number of people stabbed rose from 200 to 272.

Little detailed research has been carried out by criminologists into why the number of people being beaten and kicked to death has risen in recent years, but the most popular theory is that a booming economy means that more young people have money to spend and are on the streets late at night.

“If a drunken fight breaks out and someone falls to the ground, “putting the boot” in is part of an alcohol-fuelled loss of control. A senior police officer said: “We have had jobs where they get people down and don’t let go.”

According to Professor Jonathan Shepherd, of the University of Wales, falling to the ground was the biggest risk factor in a street brawl. He said that if a person managed to stay upright, it was likely that his friends would break up the fight and pull their friends away. Professor Shepherd added: “Street brawls in which someone falls and is kicked to serious injury or death happen all too often. Of course, there are no Queensberry rules on the pavement and there is nobody to stop people going on and on in a blind alcoholic frenzy meting out punishment.”

Another reason why kicking victims to their deaths may be popular is because, unlike the United States, few people in England and Wales carry or use firearms. Professor Shepherd said there were important cultural characteristics of violence and that some of them were peculiar to particular countries.

“We have strong firearms legislation and tend not to carry guns. Generally we do not carry knives. I guess partly because of that people use what they have got — their fists and feet,” he said.

Many prosecutions are brought because developments in forensic science now enable detectives to link a shoe with the victim’s skull. One of the problems prosecutors face is proving in court that the attacker or attackers intended to kill their victim rather than simply injure him.

If they cannot prove the aim was to kill the victim — often very difficult when death results from a drunken brawl — courts will not convict for murder but will agree on manslaughter. Murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, but the standard minimum tariff for murder is 15 years. Manslaughter results in a lower penalty.

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