SHOCKING Home Office crime figures for Abergavenny and the surrounding area show violent and sexual crimes, anti-social behaviour, and burglaryhave all risen in the last year.

Crime in Abergavenny has been the subject of police and public debate since the end of last year, when a spate of commercial burglaries saw both politicians and the public demand a crackdown.

Figures taken from the official Police.UK website shows burglary, anti-social behaviour, violent crime and sexual offences all increased when comparing a typical month.

In March 2018, Violent crimes, and sexual offences, jumped from 64 reported incidents to 78 when compared to one year later.

During March 2018, incidents of arson and criminal damage stood at 36, with no change from twelve months onward.

However, burglary spiked sharply. In March 2018, the public reported just four burglaries in the Abergavenny and surrounding areas. That figure for March 2019 stands at 25 burglaries.

In March 2018, the public reported 43 incidents of anti-social behaviour. This year’s figure stands at 54.

Anti-social behaviour includes a wide range of unacceptable behaviour that affects the quality of life for residents and others living or working in a community and includes inconsiderate neighbours, vandalism, graffiti and fly-posting, street drinking, littering, dumping of rubbish and abandonment of cars, prostitution-related activity, begging and vagrancy, fireworks misuse, inconsiderate or inappropriate use of vehicles.

The official figures breaks down Abergavenny into local authority wards and in just one area the rise in crime is starkly illustrated.

In the Priory area, which includes the centre of town from St Mary’s Church up to and including Bailey Park and back down the Hereford road – a relatively small area geographically but also including the Market Hall there were 30 crimes just in March of this year - the latest month for which there are official figures.

Between March 2018 and April 2019 there were a staggering 417 crimes in this small area – 86 of which were sex crimes and crimes of violence. Other wards show a similar trend.

In light of public concerns about the perceived lack of policing in Abergavenny Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay last month chaired a public meeting which saw police representatives, including police commissioner Jeff Cuthbert offering reassurance to worried residents.

Councillor Tudor Thomas, who represents the Priory ward, said that police numbers had fallen by almost a quarter in the last few years, and that element must be taken into account when considering any measure of police performance.

Inspector Damian Sowrey, Neighbourhood Policing Inspector for Monmouthshire, told the Chronicle, “I appreciate that any rise in reported crime will be a cause for concern, but it is important to place this information in context.

“These statistics cover a range of different crime types from assaults to criminal damage, many of which are attributable to domestic abuse incidents where we have discovered offences through investigation.

“This type of offending is often hidden, and it is not until our officers start to investigate that a full picture may come to light, and it is often the case that more offences will be recorded as a result.

“Abergavenny has suffered over recent months from a series of burglaries which have been widely publicised within the town.

“The suspects in the vast majority of these offences have been identified and arrested, and three of them are currently serving custodial sentences.

“Burglary is a priority for us, especially when people’s homes have been targeted.

“The investigation, arrest and conviction of several suspects recently demonstrates our commitment in terms of bringing these offender to justice.

“In addition to this, we have increased our patrol activity in response to the problem, and we are using appropriate powers such as stop and search in order to disrupt further criminality.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to target and capture offenders, and I would encourage people to contact us via Crimestoppers or using 101 if you have any further information”.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, said, “This increase is fairly consistent across all force areas in England and Wales as the demand on police services continues to grow.

“It is also important to stress that an increase in the number of crimes recorded by the police does not necessarily mean that levels of crime have increased significantly.

“Factors such as changes to the way crimes are categorised, improvements in the accuracy of crime recording within police forces, and increased public awareness of certain crime types can all lead to an increase in the figures.

“In particular I would like to reassure residents that the chances of being the victim of a violent attack in Gwent is extremely low. We also have one of the lowest levels of knife crime in the UK.

“However, we will not be complacent and will continue to invest in priority areas to make Gwent a safer place to live, work and visit.”