CRIME RATE IS HIGHER THAN US

Report Claims That Life In Britain Is More Dangerous

BRITAIN is becoming a more dangerous place to live than the United
States, according to a report by the US Deparament of Justice.

Jack Straw, the Home Secretary is considering the findings, which were
submitted to the Home Office at the end of last month. The report
shows that robbery, burglary and assaults are more common per head of
population in England and Wales than in the US.

The less common crimes of murder and rape are higher in the US, where
guns are more prevalent, but the gap is narrowing. A larger proportion
of accused are convcted in the US and are likely to receive prison
sentences double or even two thirds longer than in the UK.

The report showed that in 1995, 7.6 per cent of 1,000 people in the UK
had experienced robbery compared with 5.3 per cent in the US. The
prevalence of burglary was 82.9 per cent compared to 47.5 per cent in
the US and assaults here were at 20 per cent, against 8.8 per cent.

Norman Brennan, the national director of the Victims of Crime Trust,
said: "I hope that these figures will shock the British public into
realising that very little is being achieved in our batle against crime.

"The Government will not be allowed to get away with the rhetoric of
window-dressing exercises, looking for the soft option and endorsing
weak sentences for those who are the blight of our criminnal justice
system."

News of the report comes as the Home Office is about to release new
crime statistics for England and Wales tomorrow.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We have been aware of the comparisons
for a while. We believe the study is limited because it compares only
two sets of figures." She added that the Government was looking at
alternative methods of dealing with offenders rather than increase
their jail terms.

Alum Michael, a Home Office minister, said yesterday: "We are
determined to learn the right lessons from the report and reverse this
trend."

Last night, a spokesman for the Scotiish Office said it did not record
crime on a per capita basis, making a direct comparison difficult but
he added that crime in Scotland was falling.

The total number of crimes recorded north of the Border fell from
451,956 in 1996 to 420,642 last year. Housebreaking reached a peak in
1992 at 113,160, but dropped substantially last year to 55,471. The
number of serious assaults also fell to 6,053 last year - down by 13
per cent.

The spokesman said: "Although it is difficult to compare the figures
in England and Wales let alone in the US, we can say that the number
of crimes in Scotland is falling.

"The trend is definitely down with some large decreases in
housebreaking. The chances of you being involved in a violent crime is
very small."

The number of robberies dropped by 15 per cent to 4,484 last year.
However, petty assaults has risen to 50,088, up 5 per cent compared to
1996 and there has been a worrying increase in sexual assaults. In
1997 there were 1,979 sexual assaults, up 14 per cent on the previous
year. Police say the fact that people are more willing to report
sexual crimes may account for the rise.

In the Strathclyde region, serious assaults were down 7.7 per cent,
robbery and assaults fell by 10.1 per cent and theft by housebreaking
fell 6 per cent.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry