JUST under half of the crimes recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police in Ceredigion in the past year were violent offences.

In total, 6,149 crimes were reported to Dyfed-Powys Police in the county in the year ending June 2023, according to data released by the Home Office.

3,034 of these crimes reported to the police were recorded as ‘violence against the person’. This equates to 49.34 per cent of all the crimes recorded in Carmarthenshire during this period.

Of these, 1,203 were recorded as stalking and harassment offences, 1,192 were classed as violence without injury, and 639 were violence with injury.

Dyfed-Powys Police recorded 854 public order offences, as well as 802 theft offences and 626 recorded incidents of criminal damage and arson.

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Shoplifting accounted for 224 of the theft offences – the highest named offence of that category – while there were 159 recorded burglaries.

A total of 261 sexual offences were recorded in the year ending June 2023, and 377 drug offences were also reported during that period.

The total number of crimes recorded in Ceredigion rose by three per cent when compared to the number of crimes recorded in the 12 months ending June 2022 (5,987).

Ceredigion was the only local authority area covered by Dyfed-Powys Police which saw a rise in crime during this latest 12-month period. Carmarthenshire saw an eight per cent fall, while Pembrokeshire (four per cent) and Powys (two per cent) also recorded lower numbers of crimes. However, 2,907 were recorded as having an unassigned location in the year ended June 2023, while none were in the previous year.

Drug offences recorded in Ceredigion rose 47 per cent, from 256 in the year ending June 2022, while public order offences rose from 770 to 854 (11 per cent) and the number of incidents of violence without injury rose from 1,090 to 1,192 (a nine per cent rise).

The number of reported burglaries fell by 22 per cent, with residential burglaries dropping from 139 to 113 and non-residential burglaries falling from 64 to 46.

Sexual offences were also recorded as falling by 18 per cent from 318 in the previous year, while the number of theft offences reported dropped nine per cent over the year from 885 to 802.