FOI 6227
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: HRC0006227
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 11Th May 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
For the financial years 2013/14 to the latest year available, a breakdown of the number of recorded victims of blackmail offences in that year by age.
I would accept a breakdown by age groups if individual ages are not available, and if it is necessary to suppress small numbers of victims in some categories due to risk of identification please do so.
Reply
West Mercia holds the below information
|
Victim Age Group |
Financial Year |
Total |
|||||
|
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
||
|
Under 18 |
41 |
57 |
176 |
152 |
121 |
154 |
701 |
|
18 - 19 |
35 |
58 |
78 |
119 |
48 |
54 |
392 |
|
20 - 29 |
92 |
134 |
192 |
256 |
167 |
162 |
1,003 |
|
30 - 39 |
49 |
73 |
83 |
83 |
91 |
88 |
467 |
|
40 - 49 |
37 |
47 |
33 |
56 |
72 |
49 |
294 |
|
50 - 59 |
34 |
43 |
41 |
46 |
43 |
39 |
246 |
|
60 - 69 |
18 |
11 |
9 |
25 |
26 |
37 |
126 |
|
70 and over |
5 |
10 |
11 |
16 |
15 |
15 |
72 |
|
Grand Total |
311 |
433 |
623 |
753 |
583 |
598 |
3,301 |
Caveat: The search returned 3,213 unique individual victims of blackmail. Some individuals were victims to more than one offence over the FOI time period. The Issue table is per individual victim of each offence, meaning, where an individual is a victim of more than one blackmail offence, they will be counted as many times in the table as they were a victim according to the relevant financial year and age group.