Violent crimes 'wrongly downgraded'

The police inspectorate found one in three decisions to record a violent incident as no crime having taken place was wrong.

If their findings, which came from a small sample, were repeated across all forces, it would mean more than 6,000 victims of violence being ignored.

Chief Inspector of Constabulary Denis O'Connor said the findings were a "matter of concern". Launching a further review, he said: "It's a very high error rate on a small sample. For us as the regulator, it's a matter of concern."

Among the cases was a woman left battered and bruised after her partner slapped her, grabbed her by the neck and threw her on the floor.

The force, which has not been named, recorded no crime as having taken place. The officers wrote that the victim would say she injured herself and that her partner's account was "more accurate". But Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said the incident should have been recorded as actual bodily harm. HMIC found 35.7% of 479 "no crime" decisions were wrong. One in 20 of those should have been recorded as a serious violent crime, and a third should have been recorded as a less serious assault.

Meanwhile, latest official crime figures revealed that police are recording more burglaries, robberies and personal thefts. Domestic burglary rose by 3%, robbery by 1% and personal theft by 5% between April and June, compared to the same period the previous year.

But overall crime in England and Wales fell by 4%, the fourth successive quarter in which fewer offences were recorded.

Incidents in many areas of crime, including violence, vehicle theft, criminal damage and firearm offences, have fallen. But senior officers are likely to focus on the continuing trend for rising numbers of acquisitive crimes, including burglary and theft.

There were 67,000 domestic burglaries between April and June, compared with 65,200 during the same period the previous year, an increase of 1,800 offences. Theft offences fell by 3%, but this masked an increase in personal thefts, with 228,000 offences taking place, an increase of 12,000 crimes. Bicycle thefts soared by 22%.