Culpable Death Report

A new Police report released today will provide a better understanding about culpable deaths.

Culpable death offences are those where an offender could be charged with murder, manslaughter or infanticide.

The Report ("Police Statistics on Culpable Deaths in New Zealand"), to be produced annually, presents a breakdown of all victims of murder, manslaughter and infanticide for the 2007 and 2009 calendar years.

Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls, General Manager of Strategy, Policy and Performance said there are fewer than 100 culpable deaths in New Zealand every year, and in-depth information about these deaths will be valuable.

Information included in the Report includes; type of offence, gender, age and ethnicity of victim, relationship of the victim to the offender, weapons used and location of the offence.

The number of culpable deaths recorded in both years were:

• 2007: 65 deaths
• 2009: 88 deaths

Assistant Commissioner Nicholls says the cases for 2007 are not directly comparable with those in 2009.

"Last year's cases are included because they are timely. Cases for 2007 are included because most of the investigations relating to those deaths have now concluded," said Assistant Commissioner Nicholls.

The main findings in the Report include:

• Male victims outnumbered female victims, and males in their 20s were particularly at risk;
• Male victims were less likely to be related to / in a relationship with their killer than were female victims;
• Children under 5 years of age were more at risk than adults;
• Maori are over-represented in these statistics.

Assistant Commissioner Nicholls said this is the first year these statistics have been produced.

"Trends across time are therefore not yet available, but will emerge over future years," said Assistant Commissioner Nicholls.

ENDS

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