UK Edition
Recorded crime has gone up by 14 per cent in a year, new official police figures show, as robbery, mugging and violent crime all increased.
Overall the statistics, which record the number of crimes reported to police over the last year in England and Wales, paint a dramatic picture of increased offending in almost every category.
Robbery is up by 29 per cent compared to the previous year, while stalking is up 36 per cent and rape 29 per cent. Knife crime is up by 21 per cent.
Public order offences have increased more then any other area, by 44 per cent, while possession of a weapon has also increased dramatically by 26 per cent.
Drug offences have fallen, as have non-domestic burglary crimes, but in every other area increases have been reported.
However the crime survey of England and Wales, seen as an accurate reflection of how people experience crime, shows crime is down.
Forces in England and Wales logged a total of 5.3 million crimes in the year ending September 2017 - a 14 per cent increase compared to the previous 12 months.
Statisticians said the data shows continuing rises in the number of "higher-harm" violent offences, which were most evident in knife and gun crime categories.
The figures come amid suggestions that police are failing to investigate supposedly low-level crimes in order to focus their efforts on dealing with increasing threats from terrorism and cyber crime, investigate historic sex offences and manage budget cuts.
In a scheme trialled in 2015 by Leicestershire police, officers refused to investigate reported attempted burglaries at odd-numbered homes.
Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd said: “The independent Office for National Statistics is clear that overall traditional crime is continuing to fall, and is now down by almost 40 per cent since 2010, while fraud and computer misuse - the most commonly experienced crime - has reduced by 15% in the past year.
“It is also welcome that the police’s recording of crime is improving, and that more victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence are feeling empowered to come forward.
“But we know that some of the increase in police-recorded violent offences is genuine which is why we have taken urgent action to stop these crimes.
"We will be announcing tough new laws to crack down on acid attacks and knife offences. And as crime changes, we will change our response - our forthcoming Serious Violence Strategy will place a new emphasis on steering young people away from a life of crime, while continuing to promote the strongest possible law enforcement response.”
Last October, The Telegraph revealed that nine out of 10 residential burglary investigations end without a suspect even being identified.
Of the 44,363 residential burglary cases recorded by police forces across England and Wales between April and June last year, 89.7 per cent ended without a suspect being identified.
The Office for National Statistics said that police-registered crime must be interpreted with caution, attributing much of the rise to changes in recording practices and increased confidence of victims in coming forward.
Its preferred measure, the Crime Survey for England and Wales, gave a total of 10.6 million incidents, which was a fall of 10 per cent.
But it said rises in vehicle-related theft and burglary are less likely to be affected by recording practice and are therefore likely to reflect increases.
Forces registered 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017 - a 21 per cent increase compared to the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011. Gun crime also went up by a fifth, to 6,694 recorded offences.
The ONS said: "The occurrence of these offences tends to be disproportionately concentrated in London and other metropolitan areas.
"While it is possible that improved recording and more proactive policing has contributed to this rise, it is our judgment that there have also been genuine increases."