Child homicide statistics : NSPCC inform

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Child homicides

Key child protection statistics (December 2007)

The statements in this section are based on Home Office statistics on the number of homicides of children aged under 16 recorded by the police in England and Wales.

The term 'homicide' covers the offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Murder and manslaughter are common law offences, which have never been defined by statute, although they have been modified by statute. Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another without any malice either expressed or implied. A particular category is 'Section 2' manslaughter which refers to the provisions of section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957, which allowed for the defence of diminished responsibility. The Infanticide Act of 1922 (amended 1938) created the offence of infanticide in the case of a woman who caused the death of a child under 12 months while "the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child" (Home Office (2005) Crime in England and Wales 2003/2004: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime. p.1) .

Homicide statistics are published annually by the Home Office. The data on child homicides published by the Home Office are given for the year in which the police initially recorded the offence as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the incident took place, or the year in which any court decision was made. The Home Office data refer to the position as at 9 October 2006, when recording closed down for the purpose of analysis. Subsequent court hearings or other information received will change the figures given. Where the police initially recorded an offence as homicide, it remains so classified unless the police or the courts decide later that no homicide took place. Because of these factors, data from the homicide index do not necessarily agree with the recorded crime data (Home Office (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. p.8) .

On average, every week in England and Wales one to two children are killed at the hands of another person ¹ ² .
Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.
Each week at least one child dies from cruelty ³ .
On average, 67 children in England and Wales are killed at the hands of another person every year ¹ ² . In 2005/2006, 55 children were killed at the hands of another person in England and Wales ⁴ .
Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.
While the number of child homicides fluctuates each year, the overall child homicide rate in England and Wales has remained broadly similar since the 1970s.
Creighton and Tissier (2003) Child killings in England and Wales. London: NSPCC Research briefing.
Infants aged under one are more at risk of being killed at the hands of another person than any age group of child under 18 in England and Wales ¹ ⁵ ⁶ .
Coleman, K. et al (2008) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2006/2007: supplementary volume 2 to Crime in England and Wales 2006/2007 (PDF) London: Home Office.
Special Tabulation supplied via private correspondence with the Home Office, September 2005.
Almost two thirds of children killed at the hands of another person in England and Wales are aged under five ¹ ⁷ .
Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.
Every ten days in England and Wales one child is killed at the hands of their parent ⁸ ⁹ . In half (52%) of all cases of children killed at the hands of another person, the parent is the principal suspect ¹⁰ .
Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.
In 2005/2006 in England and Wales, 24 children were killed at the hands of their parents ¹¹ .
Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.
On average, 11 children per year in England and Wales are killed at the hands of strangers ¹² ¹³ ¹⁴ . This equates to an annual average of 16% of all cases of children killed at the hands of another person ¹⁴ .
Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.
In 2005/2006 in England and Wales parents were the principal suspect in 24 child homicide cases (44% of all cases).

A further 13 children (24% of all cases) were the victim of suspects known to them (i.e. other family member, friend or acquaintance).
12 children (22% of all cases) were the victim of strangers ¹³ .
As of October 2006, there were no suspects for 6 (11%) of the victims.

Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006 (PDF). London: Home Office.

"Killings of children by a natural parent are committed in roughly equal proportions by mothers (47%) and fathers (53%), but that where the child is killed by someone other than a parent, males strongly predominate" ¹⁵ .
Brookman and Maguire (2003) Reducing homicide: a review of the possibilities (PDF) London: Home Office. p.16.
"The proportion of child homicides in which the perpetrator is a parent is exceptionally high among infants". For example between 1995 and 1999 in England and Wales, 80% of homicide victims under one year old were killed by a parent.
Brookman and Maguire (2003) Reducing homicide: a review of the possibilities (PDF) London: Home Office. p.16.
The proportion of child homicides ¹⁶ where a parent is the principal suspect falls as children get older. For homicides of children aged under five the proportion of cases where a parent was the principal suspect was over 70%; for homicides of children aged 14 or 15 it was a quarter or fewer ¹⁷ .
Special Tabulation supplied via private correspondence with the Home Office, September 2005.
In a study into the relationship between child deaths and child maltreatment, 63% of the paediatricians sampled had some experience of suspicious child death. Of these, the most commonly cited alerting factor was inconsistent accounts (such as parents or carers changing their story), followed by unusual bruising, and the death of another child in the family.
May-Chahal et al. (2004) The relationship between child death and child maltreatment: a research study on the attribution of cause of death in hospital settings. London: NSPCC.

Footnotes

1. The reference to 'killed at the hands of another person' is based on Home Office statistics on the number of homicides of children aged under 16 recorded by the police in England and Wales. The term 'homicide' covers the offences of murder, manslaughter and infanticide. Murder and manslaughter are common law offences, which have never been defined by statute, although they have been modified by statute. Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of another without any malice either expressed or implied. A particular category is 'Section 2' manslaughter which refers to the provisions of section 2 of the Homicide Act 1957, which allowed for the defence of diminished responsibility. The Infanticide Act of 1922 (amended 1938) created the offence of infanticide in the case of a woman who caused the death of a child under 12 months while 'the balance of her mind was disturbed by reason of her not having fully recovered from the effects of giving birth to the child or by reason of the effect of lactation consequent upon the birth of the child'. (Povey, D., 2005, Crime in England and Wales 2003/2004: Supplementary Volume 1: Homicide and Gun Crime. London: Home Office. p.1)

2. This a five year average of 67 homicides of children aged under 16 per year recorded by the police in England and Wales, based on figures from 2001/02 to 2005/06. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office. T able 1.04).

3. This statement is based on homicide statistics for England and Wales published annually by the Home Office. 'At least one child' reflects the figure of one to two children killed at the hands of another person every week. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office ).

4. It is possible that there were more than 55 child homicide victims aged under 16 in 2005/06 because the age of some homicide victims was not known by the police at the time the offence was recorded. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office).

5. "Although the risk of becoming a victim of homicide is exceptionally low among children as a whole, the reverse is true of infants below one year of age" (Brookman and Maguire (2003) Reducing homicide: a review of the possibilities. London: Home Office. p.iii).

6. In five out of seven years (1997/98 to 2003/04) the homicide rate for under one year olds has been the highest of any single year age band.

7. This is a five year average of 63% of all child homicides based on figures from 2001/02 to 2005/06. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office. Table 1.07).

8. The reference to 'killed at the hands of their parent' is based on Home Office statistics on the number of homicides of children aged under 16 recorded by the police in England and Wales.

9. Home Office child homicide statistics record the relationship of the victim to the principal suspect. The figures quoted here are for child homicides where the principal suspect is a biological parent, step parent, adopted parent of the victim or the resident or non resident partner of the victim's parent. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office) . The definition of 'parent' was established through private correspondence with David Povey at the Home Office.

10. This is a five year average of 35 child homicides per year where the parent is the principal suspect, or 52% of all child homicides based on figures from 2001/02 to 2005/06. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office. Table 1.04) .

11. The reference to 'killed at the hands of their parents' is based on Home Office statistics on the number of homicides of children aged under 16 recorded by the police in England and Wales.

12. The reference to 'killed at the hands of strangers' is based on Home Office statistics on the number of homicides of children aged under 16 recorded by the police in England and Wales.

13. Home Office homicide data for 'strangers' as the principal suspect includes cases where the suspect is identified but there is insufficient information to determine the relationship to the victim.(Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office. Table 1.04).

14. The figure quoted here is a five year average based on figures from 2001/02 to 2005/06. (Coleman, K. et al (2007) Homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence 2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home Office. Table 1.04).

15. Apart from parents, the other groups from which most killers of children were drawn were step-parents, 'other family' and 'friends or ex friends'.

16. Home Office data on the number of homicides of children recorded by the police in England and Wales are for children aged under 16.

17. These figures are based on a five year total from 1999/00 to 2003/04.

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