Statistics released by the PSNI around domestic abuse incidents and crimes in Northern Ireland have shown the Fermanagh and Omagh policing district has seen the biggest fall of any district in the last 12 months.

From July, 2018 to June, 2019, there were 1,919 domestic abuse incidents in the district while from July, 2019 to June, 2020 there were 1,659 domestic incidents recorded by police – a drop of 260 such incidents.

In terms of domestic abuse crimes, July, 2018 to June, 2019 saw 889 such incidents recorded compared to 833 in July, 2019 to June, 2020 – a difference of 56.

In Northern Ireland, from July, 2019 to June, 2020 there were 32,127 domestic abuse incidents recorded by police – an increase of 570 such incidents (1.8 per cent) on the previous 12 months, and the highest 12-month period recorded since the start of the data series in 2004/05.

Domestic abuse crimes recorded reached 18,796 in the previous 12 months, which was an increase of 2,203 (13.3 per cent) on the previous 12 months, and the second highest period since 2004/05.

Harassment saw the biggest increase in the type of crime recorded by police, with 3,829 such incidents reported – an increase of 88.2 per cent on the previous year.

Sexual offences saw a decrease of 17.8 per cent (640 incidents) compared to the previous 12 months.

Lockdown

During lockdown this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic from March 23 to June 30, higher levels of calls were made to police during April and May than would have normally been expected for that time of year, according to the latest data.

While the number of calls in June were slightly higher than the levels expected, they were lower than the previous two months.

Domestic abuse incidents were higher in April and May 2020 than the same months in 2019, by 292 and 252 incidents respectively.

The number of incidents fell in June, 2020 and was 234 lower than June, 2019; it should be noted that June, 2019 was the highest monthly figure during 2019/20.

When compared with the same months the previous year, levels of domestic crime were slightly higher in March and April, while May was higher by 173 such incidents.

Domestic abuse crime reported in June, 2020 was lower than June, 2019 by 39 offences.

These higher levels of domestic abuse crime between March and May should be seen in the context of overall police recorded crime which, during the first week of lockdown, fell to around three-fifths of the expected weekly average.

By the end of June, this figure had risen to between 80 and 90 per cent of the expected weekly average.