There were 110 homicides in the capital in 2023 (Picture: Getty/PA)
A wave of homicides across London has sparked fears about a spike in violent crime in the capital.
Four people were killed over the space of three days at the weekend in Streatham, Hackney, Ealing and Haringey.
The killings come as Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall accused mayor Sadiq Khan of ‘losing control’ of crime.
But is violent crime on the rise in London? Here’s a look at the bigger picture – and what politicians are saying about it.
What happened at the weekend?
On Friday afternoon, a man in his 50s was found unresponsive following a fight on Fernwood Avenue in Streatham, south London. He later died in hospital.
A man was arrested in connection to the case but was released on bail.
Then, in the early hours of Saturday, a woman in her mid-20s was found non-responsive in a car in east London.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is coming under increasing pressure about crime rates in the city (Picture: PA Wire)
Police tried to resuscitate the woman, who was found on Whiston Road in Hackney, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. One man has been arrested.
Later on Saturday, a man was stabbed to death near Uxbridge Road in Ealing.
Police were called to the scene at around 7.50pm and three people have been arrested.
On Sunday, 46-year-old Okechukwu Iweha was stabbed to death near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London. He was found unresponsive in Northumberland Park in Haringey.
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No arrests have been made. The Met Police said specialist detectives are investigating the case and ‘will leave no stone unturned.’
Is violent crime on the rise in London?
These four tragic killings aren’t the only violent crimes that have taken place in the capital in recent days.
A man, 44, and a woman, 48, were arrested on Saturday after the remains of Sarah Mayhew, 38, were found in a south London Park. A 21-year-old man was shot dead in West London last week, while a woman was found dead in her Westminster flat early on Monday.
In another case, a 17-year-old was stabbed in Southall on Friday night. He survived the attack and was taken to hospital.
With all this news, it’s easy to understand why some think that violent crime is on the rise in London. But is that the full story?
According to data from the Metropolitan Police, there were 110 homicides in the capital in 2023.
Most of these cases were classed as murder, but four were classed as manslaughter.
Croydon, Hounslow and Lambeth were hotspots with the highest number of homicides.
67% of the cases involved a knife or a sharp implement.
Elianne Andam, 15, who was stabbed to death on a bus in Croydon, south London, in September 2023 (Picture: PA)
Across the capital, knife crime is on the rise.
There were 14,865 knife crime offences in London in 2023, up by 17% from 2022.
These offences include carrying a knife, owning a banned knife, trying to buy a knife if you are under 18, and threatening, injuring or fatally wounding someone with a knife.
1,006 of those offences took place in Westminster – the most of any borough in London. Croydon, Newham and Lambeth also had high rates of knife crime in 2023.
In 2023 homicide cases, the second most common cause of death was physical assault, where no weapon was involved in the murder.
The majority of the victims in these cases were men. 63% of the female homicide victims were classed as domestic abuse cases.
20 of the cases remain unsolved.
Teenager Harry Pitman was fatally stabbed on New Year’s Eve (Picture: PA)
21 of the victims were teenagers, marking a rise of more than 60% in the number of teens killed in 2022.
One of those killed was 16-year-old Harry Pitman, who died on New Year’s Eve in Primrose Hill. He was at the park to watch fireworks with friends when he was attacked.
While the rise in teen homicides is worrying, the figure is not as high as in 2021, when 30 teenagers were killed in the capital – the highest number since World War Two.
In 2018, there were 138 homicides in London – a figure 20% higher than the number recorded in 2023.
In 2003, meanwhile, there were 222 homicides. That means that homicides in the capital have actually decreased by more than 50% in the last two decades.
The lowest number of homicides recorded in London in a year was in 2014, when there were 83 cases.
Why has homicide in London declined since 2003?
A new approach to violent crime could be one reason behind the decline.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan set up the Violence Reduction Unit in 2019.
It was given £500,000 in funding when it first launched and aimed to treat violent crime as a public health issue.
Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall accused Sadiq Khan of failing to recruit enough police officers (Picture: UKNIP)
But policing is just one part of the story.
Changes to medical responses have also played a part. In the early 2000s, paramedics transported victims straight to hospital to be treated.
However, in recent years, victims have been treated at the scene of the crime, which has improved survival rates.
What about other crimes in London?
It’s hard to get a complete picture of crime rates in London as there are many factors at play.
Some data indicates that overall crime is lower in London in comparison to other parts of the UK.
(Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images)
According to figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, 14.9% of people in London experienced a crime to their person or their household between September 2022 and September 2023.
Nationally, that figure is 15.7%.
However, other statistics tell a different story. For instance, according to figures from Transport for London, the number of thefts on the London Underground in 2023 increased by 83%.
It’s one of the key issues ahead of the mayor elections in May, as some critics think that Sadiq Khan has not been tough enough on crime.
A recent advert from Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall claimed that London was the ‘crime capital of the world’.
Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Rob Blackie has said that crime was rising across the capital and that he would make ‘fixing’ the Metropolitan Police his ‘top priority’.
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