Homicide in Scotland 2023-24
Statistical bulletin on crimes of homicide recorded by the police in Scotland in 2023-24.
Main findings
Victims of Homicide
The number of homicide victims has shown a downward trend since 2004-05. In 2023-24, there were 57 victims of homicide, five more than in 2022-23. Despite this increase, the number of homicide victims in 2023-24 was the third lowest since comparable records began in 1976 (and lower than all years from that point to 2020-21 inclusive).
Figure 1. Homicide victims have fallen long term but increased since 2022-23
Total number of victims and victims by sex, Scotland, 2004-05 to 2023-24
As can be seen from Figure 1, the reduction in victim numbers since 2004-05 has primarily been driven by a reduction in male victims. For the five years from 2019-20 to 2023-24, there were 217 male victims of homicide – a 52% reduction compared to 454 for the five year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09. Over those same periods, the number of female victims reduced by 37% from 112 to 71.
Age and Sex of Victims
In 2023-24, there were 44 male victims, representing 77% of all homicide victims. Since 2022-23, the number of male victims increased by five from 39 to 44, whilst the number of female victims remained constant at 13.
Males are more likely to be victims of homicide than females, with an overall rate of 16 victims per million population in 2023-24. The equivalent rate for females was five victims per million population.
The median age of a victim of homicide in 2023-24 was 36 years old, 11 years lower than in 2022-23 when the median age of a victim was 47 years old (Table 1).
Figure 2 shows the victimisation rate by age group and sex for homicides since 2019-20 (i.e. for the past 5 years – representing 288 victims). For most age groups, the rate is higher for males than for females, though rates were very similar for those aged between 5 and 15 years old and 75 and over. The rate for males peaks in the 35 to 44 years old age group. For females, the highest rate was for those aged under 1 year as a result of two victims in this age group from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
Figure 2. The majority of homicide victims are male
Age profile of homicide victimisation rate by sex, Scotland, 2019-20 to 2023-24
There has been a reduction in homicides over the last 20 years across all age groups under 65. The greatest reduction has been amongst victims aged 16-24. In the five year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09, there were 125 victims in this age range. This dropped to 29 across the latest five years period from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
Figure 3. In the last 20 years homicide rates have dropped substantially for younger age groups
Age profile of homicide victimisation rate by 5 year period, Scotland, 2004-05 to 2023-24
Locations of homicides
In 2023-24, Glasgow City had the highest number of homicide victims (10) (Table 2). In Glasgow City, the share of national homicide victims was higher than it’s share of Scotland’s population, 18% versus 12%. Population estimates are as at mid-year 2023 from the National Records of Scotland Mid-2023 Population Estimates.
It is important to note however that victims may not necessarily reside in the local authority where the homicide took place.
Glasgow City has witnessed a relatively larger fall in homicides than Scotland as a whole in the last 20 years. Over the latest five year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24, there have been 47 homicides in Glasgow, a 71% reduction compared to 162 for the five year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09. This compares to a 49% reduction in Scotland as a whole between these periods.
In 2023-24, 63% of homicides occurred within a residential location (dwelling and other residential), 30% in outdoor public places (street, footpath and open outdoor area) and 7% in indoor public places (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Most homicides are located in residential dwellings
Location of homicides (where known), Scotland, 2014-15 to 2023-24
Persons accused of homicide
The number of people accused of homicide has shown an overall downward trend since 2004-05. In 2023-24, there were 85 persons accused of homicide, 12 more than in 2022-23.
The clear majority of persons accused of homicide are male, making up 81% of all accused in 2023-24.
For all of the 57 homicide victims recorded in 2023-24, the associated case was solved.
In 2023-24, the total number of individuals accused of homicide equated to 15 per million population. The rates for those accused of homicide were highest for those aged 25-34 (38 per million population), 35-44 (34 per million population) and 16-24 (27 per million population).
Figure 5 shows the rate for accused by age group and sex for homicides since 2019-20 (i.e. for the past 5 years – representing 366 accused). The rates for males accused of homicide per million population were considerably higher across all age groups than for females.
Figure 5. The highest rates for persons accused of homicide are for men aged 16 to 44
Age and sex profile of persons accused of homicide per million population, Scotland, 2019-20 to 2023-24
In 2023-24, the median age of a person accused of homicide was 32 years old, three years younger than in 2022-23. Over the past 10 years, the median age of a person accused of homicide ranged between 29 and 35 years old. This is generally older than the preceding ten years, which ranged between 23 and 30 years old.
The median age of a person accused of homicide has been lower than the median age of victims of homicide in each of the last twenty years.
Over the last twenty years, there has been a large reduction in the number of people accused of homicide, with the rate per million population dropping from 30 for the five year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09 to 13 for the five year period from 2019- 20 to 2023-24. Despite the large reduction over the last 20 years, the number of accused in 2023-24 is higher than it was 10 years ago. Figure 6 shows that the biggest drop has been amongst persons aged 16-24, which has fallen from 111 per million population to 25 per million population across the same period.
Figure 6. Over the last 20 years the biggest reduction in those accused of homicide has been amongst persons aged 16-24
Age profile of persons accused of homicide per million population, by 5 year period, Scotland, 2003-04 to 2022-23
Method of Killing
The most common main method of killing in each of the last 10 years was with a sharp instrument. This includes 49% (28) of homicide victims in 2023-24, 25 of which involved a knife. The next most common main method was other or unknown, accounting for 18% (10) of homicide victims in 2023-24. Of these, nine were known and one was unknown. The most common of the nine other known methods were vehicle (five victims) and fall from height (three victims).
Figure 7. Sharp instruments are the most common main method of killing
Victims of homicide by selected main method of killing, Scotland, 2014-15 to 2023-24
Homicide by shooting is relatively rare in Scotland. In 2023-24, there were two victims recorded. Since 2014-15, there have been 17 recorded victims of shooting, accounting for 3% of all homicide victims over this period.
Relationship of main accused to victim
The victim and main accused were known to each other in a majority of cases, representing 46 (81%) of homicides solved in 2023-24. The accused and victim were not known to each other in nine homicides (16%). The relationship to the main accused was unknown in the remaining two homicides (4%).
For those 46 homicides where the victim and accused were known to each other, 31 (67%) were acquaintances, seven (15%) were partners or ex-partners and six (13%) were relatives.
Figure 8 shows the number of homicides for male and female victims by their relationship to the main accused for all victims since 2014-15. Over the past 10 years, most male victims were killed by an acquaintance (56%). In comparison, over the same period, female victims were most likely to be killed by a partner or ex-partner (41%).
Figure 8. In the past 10 years, most male victims were killed by an acquaintance, while female victims were most likely to be killed by a partner or ex-partner
Relationship of main accused to victim, by victim sex, Scotland, ten year period, 2014-15 to 2023-24
For the latest year of 2023-24, 64% (28 victims) of the 44 male victims were killed by an acquaintance. Of the 13 female victims, 38% (five victims) were killed by a partner or ex-partner.
Table 9 shows that for the last five years, between 2019-20 and 2023-24, a total of 9 children under the age of 16 years were victims of homicide (where there was an accused person). Four were killed by one of their parents, four were killed by acquaintances and one was killed by a stranger.
Figure 9 shows that over two-thirds of all homicide cases (69%) recorded between 2014-15 and 2023-24 involved males killing males. A further 22% of cases involved males killing females, 6% involved females killing males and cases where the main accused and main victim were both females accounted for just 3% of the total number.
Figure 9. Between 2014-15 and 2023-24, over two thirds of homicide cases involved males killing male victims
Proportion of cases by sex of main accused and victim, Scotland, 2014-15 to 2023-24
Main Motive
For the five-year period between 2019-20 and 2023-24, the main motive for committing homicide was known for 63% (182) of the 287 homicide victims where the homicide was solved. Of these 182 victims, the most common reasons for committing homicide were fight or quarrel, and rage or fury with 57% (104) of all victims where the motive was known killed in such circumstances. For a further 19% (35) of homicides where the motive was known, feud or faction rival was the main motive (Table 11).
Thirty three (58%) victims were reported to have been killed in drug-related homicide cases in 2023-24, of which 29 were male (Table 13). This is a decrease of one victim on the 34 reported in 2022-23. The number of drug-related homicide cases is higher over the past eight years than in preceding years, though Police Scotland advise that this may be due at least in part to an improvement in recording practice (i.e., better identification of where motives can include a drug-related element). Given this, users are advised to exercise some caution when comparing this variable with years prior to 2016-17.
None of the 57 homicides recorded in 2023-24 were reported to have a homophobic or racial motivation. For all homicides in the 10 years leading up to 2023-24, 1% had a homophobic or racist motivation (Table 14).
Use of alcohol and drugs
Over the last 10 years, from 2014-15 to 2023-24 the alcohol and drug status of persons accused of homicide has been unknown for 57% of accused persons. Of the remaining 330 persons where the drug and alcohol status was known.
- 46% (151) were under the influence of alcohol.
- 10% (32) were under the influence of drugs.
- 32% (104) were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
- 13% (43) were not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Homicide incidents
A single incident of homicide is counted for each crime involving Murder or Culpable homicide (common law), irrespective of the number of victims or accused. Whilst most recorded incidents of homicide in these statistics have one victim and one accused, some incidents can have multiple victims and/or accused.
The number of homicide incidents recorded by the police in Scotland increased by 12% (or six incidents) between 2022-23 and 2023-24 from 51 to 57.
Homicide incidents involving more than one victim are relatively rare. In 2023-24, there were no incidents with more than one victim.
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot
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