London, July 20 (IANS): Violent crime has risen by 18 per cent across England and Wales during last year, official figures released on Thursday revealed.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the total number of crimes reported to and recorded by the police had risen 10 per cent between April 2016 and March 2017, reports the BBC.
It is the largest annual rise in crime for a decade and includes increases of 16 per cent in robbery and 14 per cent in sex offences.
The number of offences of violence against a person went up to 175,060 offences.
There were 723 homicides in the past year -- made up of murders, manslaughter and infanticide cases.
There was also a 23 per cent increase in firearms offences and a 20 per cent increase in knife crimes, the ONS figures showed.