Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2025 - ONS

[IwantToRetire]

Main points

• There were 522 victims of homicide recorded in year ending (YE) March 2025, 8% lower than the previous year (566 victims) and the lowest number recorded since YE March 2015 (504).
• The homicide rate was 8.6 homicides recorded per million population during YE March 2025, the lowest rate since 1977.
• The number of male victims (366) decreased by 10% (from 408), while the number of female victims (155) remained similar to the previous year (158).
• There were 34 homicides where the victim was a teenager (aged 13 to 19 years), this was 32 fewer than the previous year (66) and the lowest recorded since YE March 2013 (31); this decrease reflected a decline in sharp instrument homicides, from 54 to 22 offences in this age group.
• The homicide rate for those in the Black ethnic group was 36.8 victims per million population over the three-year period to YE March 2025, over four times higher than for the White ethnic group (7.7 victims per million population).
• The number of knife or sharp instrument homicides has decreased by a fifth (21%) from 261 to 205 victims in YE March 2025 compared with the previous year; this was the lowest number recorded since YE March 2015 when 186 offences were recorded.
• There were 111 domestic homicides in YE March 2025, slightly lower than the previous year (117) and of these victims, 75 were women and 36 were men; 67 were killed by a partner or ex-partner.

Full breakdown at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025

Just posting because I know these have been discussed in previous years.

This stood out for me:

Children aged under 1 year had the highest rate of homicide for a single year of age

Children aged under 1 year had the highest rate of homicide for a single year of age.

This is just awful. What is happening to these poor babies.

But should add that although too many, the number of women who died because of domestic violence hasn't increased that much, but look forward to the year it starts to decrease and go on decreasing.

It’s very positive that so many categories are falling, but homicide of women hasn’t fallen.

Yes, 2024 to 2025 only dropped by 3, but the ONS release shows a chart with the longer trend line since 2009 that shows a steady down slope for women. The men’s line is all over the place, up and down,
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025

• The homicide rate for those in the Black ethnic group was 36.8 victims per million population over the three-year period to YE March 2025, over four times higher than for the White ethnic group (7.7 victims per million population).

This is a shockingly high rate for Black victims and the rate for Black suspects is even higher.

Around a quarter (24%) of suspects were identified as Black, six times higher than their representation in the general population (4%).

And most of this is the younger age group, whereas in the white population the number of victims risers in the older age groups with the highest being over 65 - I wonder what percentage of that is white women

I think most murders of babies and very young children are committed by women, and then men are in the majority with older children and young people.
I'll post a link if I can find it.

I was wondering whether this is based on number of babies in that age group, and if for instance number of births for that time period was low, then as a % even if it was the same number of murders as previous years, in this year it appears highet.

Not that that makes it any less heartbreaking, but with the raw figures it is hard to make sense of, or what they are really telling us.

But yes, have also heard that most babies that are killed are killed by their mother.

Mothers are more likely than fathers to commit infanticide, particularly in the first 24 hours of life (neonaticide), where they account for nearly all cases

Data indicates that parents are responsible for 61% of child murders under age five. For general infanticide, studies suggest mothers are the primary perpetrators.

Key insights regarding parental filicide:

• Neonaticide (first 24 hours): Mothers are the perpetrators in almost all cases, making this specific crime almost exclusively committed by the mother.
• Infanticide (general): Researchers have found that, globally, mothers are more likely to commit infanticide than fathers.
• Contextual Factors: In cases of filicide-suicide, mothers are more likely to be the perpetrators.
• Victim Age: Infants are more likely to be victims than older children.

NB AI generated

https://insights.doughtystreet.co.uk/post/102ipk5/mothers-who-kill-a-look-at-infanticide

Only women can commit infanticide. Just like how only men can commit rape.

The number of knife or sharp instrument homicides has decreased by a fifth (21%) from 261 to 205 victims in YE March 2025 compared with the previous year; this was the lowest number recorded since YE March 2015 when 186 offences were recorded.

Medical improvements in treating victims of knife crime is possibly one of the reasons for a general decline in the homicide rate over a number of years, though probably wouldn't account for a decline in a single year.

When men kill women, it's generally by strangulation or choking, so perhaps that's why we haven't seen a decline in homicide rates for women.

This is pure speculation, admittedly.

On the topic of infanticide (the murder of a child under one), rates have declined hugely over the decades.

Scroll down to see Table 2 in this article:

https://www.scup.com/doi/full/10.1080/14043858.2015.1038905

You'll see that the rate in England and Wales has declined from 4.23 per 100,000 births in 1960-1969 to 0.53 per 100,000 births in 2000-2009.

I'm sure we can all work out for ourselves the principal reasons for the decline.

Poverty causes crime.

That’s not true. Many men shake babies to death in the first year of life.

It’s actually 50/50 between mother and father those combined are 70% of all homicides of babies. The 30% are nursery workers, nurses, grandparents, siblings,,,

The legal definition of infanticide is committed by a woman:

Offence of infanticide.
(1)Where a woman by any wilful act or omission causes the death of her child being a child under the age of twelve months…

God that’s an outdated definition.

I think it is because the law goes on to say pregnancy or breastfeeding can be a partial mitigation for the act - otherwise the woman will be charged with murder.

I think infanticide was defined when the only sentence for murder was hanging. Even 19th century law makers had some distaste in hanging women who had committed this desperately sad act.

1. The Homicide Rate Explained

The "rate per million" is a standard way to compare groups of different sizes.

• For Infants (Under 1): In the year ending March 2024, there were 13 recorded homicides. Because there are relatively few babies born each year (~600,000), these 13 deaths result in a high "concentration" of risk, calculated as 20.8 per million.
• For the General Population: The overall homicide rate for all ages in England and Wales was significantly lower at 9.5 per million in 2024.

1. Why "Four Times More at Risk"?

The "four times" figure refers to the consistent historical trend where infants are the single most at-risk age group for homicide.

• Historical Context: While the rates fluctuate year-to-year due to small numbers, infants consistently have a rate roughly 2 to 4 times higher than the national average. For example, in 2023, the infant rate was 28 per million, while the national average was 9.5 per million—nearly three times higher.
• Comparison to Other Groups: Even though teenagers (aged 16-24) see a high volume of homicides (105 victims in 2024), their larger population size means their rate of risk (16.4 per million) is still lower than that of infants.

1. Fluctuations in Data

Because the total number of infant homicides is small (usually between 10 and 20 per year), just a few additional cases can cause the "rate" to jump significantly.

• 2023: 17 homicides → 28 per million.
• 2024: 13 homicides → 20.8 per million.
• 2025 (Preliminary): 19 homicides → 31.6 per million.

Despite these yearly shifts, the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) confirms that children under one remain the age group most likely to be killed by another person in the UK.

children under one remain the age group most likely to be killed by another person in the UK

Have never heard of neonticide

In legal terms, "infanticide" is a specific statutory offence (such as under the UK Infanticide Act 1938) that can only be committed by a woman against her biological child under 12 months old, often due to mental disturbance from childbirth.

While women are almost exclusively responsible for neonaticide (killing in the first 24 hours), both men and women can commit broader acts of child murder, commonly referred to as filicide.

The hormone related mental disturbance caused by maternity has long been recognised, but isn’t talked about much. As someone who suffered twice from postnatal psychosis, I’m grateful that I was well looked after, though I believe now that hormonal rather than psychiatric treatment would have effected a faster recovery.
Some unfortunate women may well commit infanticide as a result of this horrible illness.

Neonaticide is homicide of an infant within 24hrs of birth. If the baby is 1 day old to 12mos old, then it is infanticide.
(Pls excuse any spelling errors)

It can also be the trauma of childbirth itself. I’m glad you had support for your postnatal psychosis. I agree it’s not talked about enough, including the fact that psychosis can also start during pregnancy.