Less violence leaves fewer people injured

An estimated 307,998 people were admitted to A&E units for violence-related injuries last year – a 4 per cent drop, 10,879 fewer than in 2010, data supplied by the units showed. The figures also revealed that the increase seen over the previous two years in the number of young children needing emergency hospital treatment has stopped, with such attacks falling 14 per cent in 2011.

Professor Jonathan Shepherd, director of the violence and society research group at Cardiff University, said the trends – released ahead of tomorrow’s official crime figures – were encouraging.

He said fewer admissions for 11 to 30-year-olds were “particularly promising” adding: “This is likely to be linked to policing, community partnerships and public health interventions.”