The most violent streets in England and Wales have been revealed - where passers by are attacked or sexually assaulted an average of once per day.
According to police data, there were a staggering 1.6million crimes of violence and sexual offences committed on the streets and neighbourhoods of England and Wales last year. These included common assault, GBH (causing grievous bodily harm), rape, sexual assault, and other sex crimes.
Across the nation, there were almost 900 streets last year where there were at least 52 of these offences - meaning someone was attacked, on average, once a week. But physical and sexual assaults are far more common on the nation’s most dangerous streets.
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Last year, 378 violent crimes or sexual offences were reported on or near Duncan Street, in Leeds City Centre alone. That’s the equivalent of one crime every 23 hours. It means more people were attacked at that location, which is close to several bars, shops and takeaways, than anywhere else in the country.
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Next was on or near the sports ground in the Goodmayes North neighbourhood of Redbridge, London, where 333 crimes of violence or sexual offences were recorded, or one every 26 hours.
The third highest with 312 offences was on or near Genyn Road in Guildford’s Onslow Village and University neighbourhood - but Surrey Police says the immediate area itself is relatively crime-free. However, it is close to a hospital, where many allegations about crimes that occurred at other locations may have been reported.
Inspector Natasha Tierney, who heads the Leeds City Neighbourhood Policing Team for West Yorkshire Police, said: “Duncan Street is in the heart of the city centre and the term ‘on or near’ will cover a significant proportion of the city’s night-time economy venues that surround it, and which attract a very high footfall and a higher likelihood of these type of offences.
Leeds City Centre was found to be a crime hotspot (Getty Images)“We work closely with our partner agencies and licensees to keep people safe in the city centre and have a specific operation in place every weekend to target increased resources into the area. We also continue to run proactive operations in the city centre to target street-level drug dealing and the carrying of knives and maintain our specific focus on working to prevent violence against women and girls.
“We have our own intelligence specialists who analyse in detail where offences are occurring and identify any patterns so we can put longer-term problem-solving work in place.”
Police figures covering wider MSOA (Middle Layer Super Output Area) neighbourhoods - which are typically made up of between 2,000 and 6,000 households - show that victims are most likely to be physically or sexually assaulted in a city or town centre.
Police say they use intelligence specialists to track where the crimes are occuring (Getty Images)While Duncan Street was the street with the highest number of crimes, Leeds City Centre was also the most dangerous neighbourhood area to visit. Last year there were a total of 2,250 crimes of a violent or sexual nature recorded by police in the city centre. That was followed by Newcastle’s City Centre and Arthur’s Hill neighbourhood with 2,118 crimes and then Central Bradford and Barkerend West (2,070).
Academic Mary Morgan, a writer on body politics, said the figures for violence and sexual crimes highlight the dangers that many women in particular face every day.
She said: “It’s a myth that violence against women on the streets only happens in dark alleyways in the middle of the night. Violence against women happens everywhere, at any time. The majority of streets with the highest crime levels are actually near popular areas, like bars, restaurants, and train stations.
“It’s a basic right to be able to exist without threat of violence. Women cannot even exist without a constant threat of harm. And it’s been normalised. We’ve all heard the stories by now of women walking with keys in their hands, sending locations to their friends, ‘text me when you get home’ being said as frequently as goodbyes. This isn’t normal. Women should be able to go out of the house without fear of violence or death.”
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