Recorded Crimes and Offences Involving Firearms, Scotland, 2011-12

 

4. Notes on statistics used in this bulletin

4.1 Data Returns

4.1.1 The statistics presented in this bulletin are derived from data returns submitted by Scottish police forces in respect of recorded crimes and offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been involved or where a firearm was stolen. The data return that was used to collect the statistics for this bulletin was revised in January 1993. The major change involved moving from an offence-based return to an incident-based return. In incidents where several crimes or offences occur, each crime or offence within the incident is counted.

4.1.2 A data return is submitted for each incident where a crime or offence has allegedly involved a firearm. Miscellaneous firearm offences relating mainly to the possession, handling and distribution of firearms and ammunition are excluded from the main tables. Prior to 2005-06, data returns for this bulletin did include miscellaneous firearm offences, but in discussion with police forces it became apparent that not all such incidents were being included. It was therefore decided to remove such incidents from the main tables and to provide a separate table (Table 15) which presents the totals for these offences based on Recorded Crime data returns.

4.1.3 It is possible that some of the inter‑police force area variations shown in Tables 13 and 13A arise from differences in procedure or different police force interpretation. The move to an incident-based rather than an individual offence-based recording system revealed some undercounting of offences involving firearms in years prior to 1994.

4.1.4 Under the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, the estimated costs of responding to statistical surveys and data collection are to be published.

The estimated cost of compliance for supplying and validating the data for this bulletin is: £1,000.

Details of the calculation methodology are available on the Scottish Government Crime and Justice website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/costcalculation

4.2 Legislation

4.2.1 Contraventions of Scottish criminal law are divided for statistical purposes into crimes and offences. "Crime" is generally used for the more serious criminal acts; the less serious termed "offences", although the term "offence" may also be used in relation to serious breaches of criminal law. The distinction is made only for working purposes and the "seriousness" of the offence is generally related to the maximum sentence that can be imposed.

4.2.2 Following the Dunblane incident in 1996, changes to the existing firearms legislation were introduced to enhance public safety. As a result, the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 (the '1997 Act') was implemented and thereafter the Firearms (Amendment)(No.2) Act 1997 (the '1997 (No.2) Act'). Under the 1997 Act, all pistols (otherwise referred to as "handguns") over .22 calibre were banned with effect from 1 October 1997. The 1997 (No.2) Act came into effect from 1 March 1998. A number of types of handgun were exempted from the 1997 (No.2) Act, including muzzle-loading guns, shot pistols, slaughtering instruments, firearms used for the humane killing of animals, trophies of war, etc.

4.2.3 The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 raised the age for owning an air weapon from 14 years to 17 years; created a new offence of possessing an air weapon or imitation weapon in a public place without reasonable excuse; banned future import and sale of air weapons using self-contained air cartridge systems and licensed those already held. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 also imposed minimum sentences for the illegal possession of a prohibited firearm.

4.2.4 In relation to individuals aged under 18 years, the following legislation has been introduced:

- The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 raised the minimum age at which a person may purchase or hire either an air weapon or ammunition for an air weapon to 18 years.

- The EU Weapons Directive 91/477/EEC made it an offence to sell or let on hire a firearm or ammunition to a person under the age of 18 years.

4.3 Crimes and offences cleared up

4.3.1 The definition of 'cleared up' was revised with effect from 1 April 1996. Previously, a crime or offence was regarded as being cleared up if one or more offenders was apprehended, cited, warned or traced for it. This was revised as follows:

A crime or offence is regarded as cleared up where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law, to justify consideration of criminal proceedings notwithstanding that a report is not submitted to the procurator fiscal because either:

(i) by standing agreement with the procurator fiscal, the police warn the accused due to the minor nature of the offence, or

(ii) reporting is inappropriate due to the non-age of the accused, death of the accused or other similar circumstances.

4.3.2 For some types of crimes and offences the case is cleared up immediately as the offender is caught in the act. In Scots law, the confession of an accused person to a crime would not in general be sufficient to allow a prosecution to be taken, as corroborative evidence is required. Thus, a case cannot be regarded as 'cleared up' on the basis of a confession alone.

4.4 Statistical issues

4.4.1 Occasionally, late data returns are submitted by police forces which may result in revisions to the next issue of this statistical bulletin.

4.4.2 In addition to the potential submission of late data returns by the police forces, a review was carried out on the data before the publication of this bulletin. As a result there have been minor changes to the data for 2008-09 and 2009-10. The amendments that have been made have resulted in there being two extra incidents involving firearms being recorded in 2008-09 and four fewer incidents involving firearms being recorded in 2009-10. These changes in the number of incidents involving firearms have resulted in eight more crimes and offences involving firearms being recorded in 2008-09 and five fewer crimes and offences involving firearm being recorded in 2009-10.

4.4.3 Population data are derived from relevant mid-year population estimates prepared by the National Records of Scotland: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/population/estimates/mid-year/index.html.

4.4.4 To calculate the figures shown in Table 2 and Chart 2, the total number of offences involving a firearm are calculated as a percentage of all crimes and offences recorded by the police. These data are derived from the Scottish Government's Recorded Crime statistical bulletin series and are provided in the table below:

Number

Type of Crime	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Homicide	123	107	142	95	121	118	99	79	93	93
Attempted murder	760	740	828	710	820	711	710	560	573	503
Serious assault	6,654	6,625	6,775	6,320	6,525	6,000	5,762	5,061	4,920	4,190
Robbery	4,636	4,161	3,736	3,553	3,578	3,064	2,963	2,496	2,557	2,244
Vandalism	91,333	95,663	119,855	120,340	121,676	109,855	100,880	85,576	74,420	67,984
Common assault	54,956	57,355	73,711	72,281	78,167	73,523	74,130	72,212	70,786	69,253

4.4.5 The main firearm is that which inflicts the most serious injury or damage. In cases where no injury or damage is caused, the firearm that is considered to potentially be the most dangerous is treated as the main weapon. The 'other' firearms category includes weapons such as starting guns and ball bearing guns. From 1988, crossbows were included in the 'other' category. The 'imitation' firearms category includes replica and imitation weapons.

4.4.6 Details of the age and gender of the main victim (Tables 10 and 10A) are collected only for offences in which fatal or non-fatal injury is caused. The main victim is the person most seriously injured. Cases involving injury to animals are recorded under the category 'damage to property' rather than 'injury' - which is reserved solely for the purpose of recording injuries to persons.

4.4.7 Details of the age and gender of the main accused (Tables 12 and 12A) are collected for offences that are cleared up. In offences involving injury or damage, the main accused is the person who inflicts the most serious injury or damage. In other instances, it is taken to be the oldest person. From 2001 to 2003, there was an overstatement of crimes cleared up due to the inclusion of some offences where no accused had been identified.

4.4.8 The figures provided in Table 14 for stolen firearms are not included elsewhere in this bulletin. The information reflects solely those incidents where firearms were stolen and not whether they were used to perpetrate a crime or offence.

4.4.9 There have been various changes to the way in which the type of firearm involved in offences has been recorded over the years. From 2005-06 onwards, all police forces agreed to identify weapons where possible, resulting in an increase in the alleged use of air weapons (and other identified weapons) and a decrease in the alleged use of unidentified firearms. It was also agreed that from 2006-07 onwards, all forces would include incidents involving air weapons where no injury or damage was caused. These incidents had previously been omitted from the bulletin. It is thought that this change has increased both the total number of offences of Reckless conduct with a firearm and the total number of offences involving air weapons.

4.4.10 From 2005-06 onwards, the figures reported in this bulletin provide more extensive coverage of those crimes and offences recorded as involving a firearm. This follows discussions with police forces regarding the scope of the data collection and clarification of what should be included in the statistical return. This clarification is not thought to have impacted on major crimes and offences, but is considered to have resulted in an increase in some of the more minor categories.

4.4.11 The increase in offences involving a firearm in 2006-07 is thought to be partly due to the aforementioned clarification of the counting rules which led to the inclusion of more minor crimes that had perhaps been excluded in the past. The scope of what constitutes a firearm was also clarified as some police forces had previously not included incidents involving weapons such as taser guns, mace and pepper sprays, which are all covered under Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 (as amended). This clarification appears to have particularly affected figures for common assault and 'Other crimes and offences'.

4.5 Classification

4.5.1 For the purposes of statistical reporting, the Scottish Government has a classification list containing about 475 crime and offence codes. These are grouped in this bulletin as follows:

Category	Notes
Homicide	Includes: Murder Culpable homicide
Attempted murder	Attempted murder
Serious assault	Serious assault
Robbery	Robbery and assault with intent to rob
Vandalism	Includes: Vandalism Reckless Damage Malicious mischief
Reckless conduct with firearms	Reckless conduct with firearms
Firearms Act 1968 offences	Firearm with intent to endanger life, commit crime or resist arrest
Common assault	Includes: Common assault Common assault on an emergency worker
Other crimes and offences	Includes: Possession of an offensive weapon Poaching and game laws Deer offences Cruelty to animals Offences involving animals Offences involving birds

4.5.2 In Scotland, assault is a common law offence. In order to distinguish between serious and common assaults, police forces use a common definition of what a serious assault is, namely:

An assault or attack in which the victim sustains injury resulting in detention in hospital as an inpatient, for the treatment of that injury, or any of the following injuries whether or not detained in hospital:

• Fractures (the breaking or cracking of a bone. Note - nose is cartilage not bone, so a 'broken nose' should not be classified unless it meets one of the other criteria)
• Internal injuries
• Severe concussion
• Lacerations requiring sutures which may lead to impairment or disfigurement
• Any other injury which may lead to impairment or disfigurement.

The following are not included in the definition of serious assault:

• Detention in hospital as an inpatient, for observation only
• Lacerations which are unlikely to lead to impairment or disfigurement
• Loss of consciousness
• A broken nose (Note - a broken or cracked nose is classed as a common assault as the nose is made of cartilage and not bone)
• A broken tooth
• Bruising or red marks.

Please note that slight changes to the definition of serious assault were made in April 2011. Loss of consciousness is no longer included in the definition of what constitutes a serious assault.

4.6 Other

4.6.1 The percentage figures given in tables and charts have been independently rounded, so they may not always sum to the relevant sub-totals or totals.

4.6.2 The following symbols are used throughout the tables in this bulletin:

- = nil.
~ = percentage less than 0.05%.
* = percentage less than 0.5%.

n/r = not reported (a percentage change figure is not reported if the denominator is less than ten as any resulting figure may be misleading).

4.6.3 Only a limited selection of tables are included in this bulletin. However, further analysis of recorded crimes and offences involving firearms statistics can be supplied upon request. This includes available information relating to a different time period than that covered in this bulletin. In certain cases, a fee may be charged for additional information. For details of what can be provided, please telephone Justice Analytical Services on 0131 244 2635 or e-mail JusticeAnalysts@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.