Homicide in Scotland, 2013-14

2. Main points

• In 2013-14, Police Scotland recorded 60 cases of homicide, as at 9 December 2014, a slight decrease of 5% (or three cases) from the 63 cases recorded in 2012-13. This the lowest number of cases of homicide reported for a single twelve month period since comparable data from this data collection are available (Table 1).
• The 60 cases of homicide in 2013-14 involved 61 victims, two fewer victims than in 2012-13. This represented a rate of 11 victims per million population in Scotland, the lowest rate recorded in the ten year period covered by this bulletin (Table 1).
• In 2013-14, 18 (30%) of the 60 recorded homicide cases took place in the Glasgow City local authority (Table 2). However, Glasgow City also accounted for 28% of the decrease in the total number of homicide cases across Scotland over the ten-year period covered by this bulletin.
• In 2013-14, 72% of all homicide cases occurred within a residential location, 22% of cases occurred in public places outdoors and 5% of cases occurred in public places indoors (Table 3).
• In 2013-14, there were 46 male victims, 75% of all homicide victims. The overall homicide rate for males was 18 victims per million population, over three times the rate for females which was five victims per million population (Table 5).
• In the 60 solved homicide cases recorded in 2013-14, 88 persons have been accused as at 9 December 2014. Of the persons accused of homicide in 2013-14, 84% were male (Table 6).
• Of all age-sex groups, males aged 21 to 30 years were the most likely to be accused in homicide cases in 2013-14. The accused rate per million population was almost five times greater for 21 to 30 year old males, at 81 accused per million population, compared to the national average of 17 per million population (Table 6).
• The most common method of killing in each of the last ten years was with a sharp instrument. In 2013-14, a sharp instrument was the main method of killing (where known) of 23 homicide victims (46%), 13 more homicide victims than the second most common main method of killing, which was hitting and kicking. For the definition of a sharp instrument please see Note 5.10 (Table 7).
• In 2013-14, the main accused was known to the victim for 70% of the victims; as an acquaintance (46%), a partner or ex-partner (15%), or a relative (10%) (Table 8). The relationship was unknown for 15% of those accused of homicide.
• Of the 88 persons accused of homicide in 2013-14, 52% were reported to have been under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs at the time. For 26 (30%) of the persons accused in homicide cases in 2013-14, it was not known whether they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs (Table 15).