Crime has fallen in South Tyneside, official figures show

File photo dated 22/10/14 of a Police officer, as according to new figures, some of the UK's biggest police forces have recorded a rise in the number of violent homophobic crimes this year, with hundreds of assaults on gay and lesbian people reported to police so far in 2014 - including more than 300 in London alone. Scotland Yard recorded 1,073 violent homophobic offences between January and October, up from 1,007 in 2013 and 1,002 in 2012.

Crime has fallen over the last year in South Tyneside, official police records reveal.

Northumbria Police recorded 12,740 offences in South Tyneside in the 12 months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was a decrease of 17% compared to the previous year, when there were 15,259.

At 84.4 crimes per 1,000 people, that was higher than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 77.6.

Crimes recorded in South Tyneside included:

389 sexual offences, a decrease of 21%4,965 violent offences, a decrease of 11%1,904 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 19%399 drug offences, up 45%115 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 2%1,785 public order offences, down 16%2,687 theft offences, down 30%1,997 stalking and harassment offences, up 5%

Overall, police recorded 13% fewer crimes, excluding fraud, across England and Wales, with around 4.6 million offences in the year to March.

The ONS said the annual drop was helped by a "substantial" fall in crime during April last year, when the first lockdown restrictions were introduced.

The number of recorded crimes increased between July and September, it added, before decreasing again as lockdown measures were imposed toward the end of last year.

However, in March this year, recorded crime was higher than the previous year as the phased exit from lockdown started.

Billy Gazard, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on patterns of crime.

"There were large decreases in theft offences, such as domestic burglary and theft from the person, as more people stayed at home and limited their social contact."

But the figures did show a 28% increase in stalking and harassment offences across England and Wales in the year ending in March, compared to the previous year.

This was driven by an increase in cyber stalking cases during the pandemic, according to the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

The trust, which was set up to support victims of stalking following the disappearance of Suzy in 1986, said it had seen a rise in calls to its helpline since March last year.

Violet Alvarez, spokesperson from the trust, said: "We know that domestic abuse has risen drastically during the pandemic, and this is evident in the rise of ex-intimate partner stalking cases that we have seen on the helpline."

She said specialist training across police forces and courts was needed to ensure victims were adequately cared for and understood.