THE number of robberies in Oxford has increased by more than a third, according to the latest police recorded crime statistics.

Office for National Statistics data shows there were 147 reported robberies between July 2017 and March 2018.

These can include muggings, as well as more serious attacks such as hold ups with guns and knives.

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That figure is up 36 per cent on 2016-17, when 108 incidents were recorded.

High profile robberies during this period in the city include the eight-day crime spree by Shaun Hewitt of Gordon Street, Oxford, who threatened shopkeepers across Oxford with kitchen knives, meat cleavers and broken bottles.

The statistics are based on crimes recorded with the police, and the ONS urges caution in interpreting some of these figures.

Some offences go unreported while others may be more numerous due to a change in the focus of the police or greater public attention.

However statisticians said there appears to be a genuine rise in robberies.

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Joe Traynor, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: “Over recent decades, we’ve seen continued falls in overall levels of crime but in the last year the trend has been more stable.

“We saw rises in some types of theft and in some lower-volume but higher-harm types of violence.”

Overall, police recorded crime in Oxford slightly increased between July 2017 and June 2018.

Over the 12 month period, 16,032 crimes were recorded, up by one per cent on 2016-17.

That means there is a crime for at least one in every 10 residents in Oxford, well above average for England and Wales.

Despite nationally rising, gun and knife possession offences in Oxford have dropped by four, to 122 incidents.

There has been one homicide - a murder or manslaughter. Harun Jama was found stabbed and bleeding to death under a footbridge in Friars Wharf shortly before 8pm on Wednesday, January 3.

The teenager, from Birmingham, died of his injuries in hospital.

In Oxford theft, one of the most high volume crimes, increased by three per cent. Drugs related offences rose by a quarter.

Commenting on the national figures, Chief Constable Bill Skelly of the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “Rising crime is placing greater demand on policing, as forces strive to reduce crime as well as respond to a growing terrorist threat.

“There are also more calls from the public for help, including responding to people in crisis when other agencies lack their own capacity.”

Criminal damage in Oxford, which includes arson and vandalising cars and houses, has gone down, from 1,514 incidents in 2016-17, to 1,507 in the latest figures.

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