More sexual offences were recorded in Crawley over the last year, despite drop in overall crime

More sexual offences were recorded in Crawley over the last year, despite an overall drop in recorded crime.

Sussex Police recorded 372 incidents of sexual offences in Crawley in the 12 months to September, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 7% compared to the previous year.

At 3.3 crimes per 1,000 people, that was in line with the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 2.9.

Around 5.8 million offences were recorded across England and Wales in the year to September – a 2% rise compared to the previous year – though there was a 1% drop to 4.9 million offences when excluding cases of fraud and computer misuse.

Police forces across the two nations logged the highest number of rapes and sexual offences in a 12-month period in the year to September, the figures show.

Around 63,100 rapes were recorded in the year to September, according to the Office for National Statistics, up 13% from the previous period (56,100).

This was the highest recorded annual figure to date and included 17,400 offences between July and September – the highest quarterly figure.

The ONS said the latest figures may reflect several factors, including the “impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage and campaigns on people’s willingness to report incidents to the police, as well as a potential increase in the number of victims”, and it urged caution when interpreting the data.