Newly-released crime statistics for the past year show notable spikes in arson, fraud, and stalking in the Bega Valley.
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The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has released its report on crimes recorded by the NSW Police over the financial year July 2019 to June 2020.
The data shows reported incidents of arson had almost doubled from the previous year to 31, which was also the highest from the past five years.
Cases of fraud had an almost 20-incident increase from the previous year of July 2018 to June 2019 to 124 and BOCSAR stated the five-year trend showed the crime was up 10.2 per cent.
Also, incidents of intimidation, stalking and harassment jumped from 90 in the previous year to 125 for last year.
Domestic violence-related assault increased to 110 incidents up from 100 the previous year, which was the lowest recorded from the past five years after cases peaked at 118 in July 2015 to June 2016.
There were 25 reports of sexual assault, which was down slightly from 29 the previous year.
Indecent assault, act of indecency and other sexual offences almost halved from 41 cases in the previous year down to 24 last year.
When it came to possession or use of a drug, the majority of the incidents related to cannabis.
But possession/use of cannabis has been steadily declining over the past five years, with 59 incidents the latest figure, while possession/use of amphetamines has been increasing, with 32 incidents in the past year.
Fortunately there were no murders in the Bega Valley over the last year.
BOCSAR records one murder in the previous financial year, which could refer to 49-year-old Edward Carter who was allegedly murdered in Eden in April 2019.
The two murders in the region listed in the data for the 2017-18 financial year could refer to those of grandmother Gail Winner and former police officer Mick Horne in June 2018.
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Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
