PSNI called more than 1,200 times about domestic abuse over festive period
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) received more than 1,200 calls about domestic abuse incidents over the Christmas period during its annual Operation ‘Season’s Greetings’.
While the number of calls was down on the previous year, the PSNI reported an “increase in successful arrests for offences”.
In total, 1,228 calls for help in relation to domestic abuse incidents were made during Operation ‘Season’s Greetings’, which ran from December 20 to January 2.
On Christmas Day, the PSNI received 83 calls from domestic abuse victims and concerned loved ones – a decrease of ten per cent from 2023.
On Boxing Day, 102 calls were received, a decrease of 23 per cent from the previous year, while on New Year’s Eve, the number of calls fell by six per cent to 84.
On these key festive dates, the PSNI made 410 arrests, a seven per cent increase from the same time period last year. The PSNI said 126 have so far resulted in a charge.
Detective Chief Superintendent Lindsay Fisher of the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch said: “It saddens me every year, when Christmas time approaches, that the reality for so many is that it isn’t a happy, enjoyable time for their family.
“Usually we see reports of domestic abuse increase at this time of the year and although this year’s figures are substantially more than the daily average, we are seeing the numbers of reports for the festive period begin to decrease.
“This year, however, we have seen another increase in successful arrests for domestic abuse offences. We hope this plays some part in giving people continued confidence to recognise and report abusive behaviours to us.
“It must never be forgotten that behind each one of these numbers is a victim who, statistics suggest, has endured up to 35 incidents of abuse before coming forward to report.
“Domestic abuse, in all its forms, has no place in our society and tackling these crimes remains one of PSNI’s top priorities.”
The Northern Ireland Department of Justice has published the first official publication of domestic abuse prosecutions and convictions statistics since the introduction of the “landmark” Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 on February 21, 2022.
The statistics relate to the domestic abuse offence (and associated child aggravators) and any other offence aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse under the Act.
Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “The implementation of the domestic abuse offence and associated aggravators, in February 2022, was a landmark moment in tackling domestic abuse.
“The new offences sent out a clear message that all forms of domestic abuse, physical and non-physical, are wrong and won’t be tolerated. I am pleased that we are now starting to see some data coming through which will enable us to analyse the effectiveness of the new legislation and identify any areas for improvement.”
She added: “In the coming months I intend to publish a report which will include statistics on police recorded offences as well as feedback from witnesses on their experiences at court. This additional data will provide a fuller picture and allow us to further analyse how effectively the legislation is operating.”
The number of domestic abuse-related cases under the Act dealt with at all courts was 2,728. There were still 1,028 domestic abuse-related cases dealt with for offences prior to the 2021 legislation.
In total, 55.5 per cent (1,515) of prosecutions in all courts, for offences under the Act, resulted in a conviction.
For cases with offences with the statutory domestic abuse aggravator, violence against the person offences made up 60.3 per cent (867) of convictions at all courts.
Of those convicted of a domestic abuse offence under the Act, a custodial sentence was the outcome in 30.6 per cent of cases.