Newham has the highest number of intrafamily crime in London

Newham is the worst London borough for intrafamily crime, FOI stats reveal.

Between January and September there were 1,807 crimes committed where the victim and the suspect were related to each other. 1,460 of these were violent.

That means roughly seven per cent of all crimes, and 18 pc of violent crime, is committed between family members.

This is higher than the London-wide average, which is around six pc of all crime and 15 pc of all violent crime.

Intrafamily crime is defined as any offence where the victim is related either through blood, marriage, civil partnership or guardianship to the suspect.

The full scale of the problem is likely to be considerably worse than these figures suggest — it is widely acknowledged domestic crimes are significantly less likely to be reported than other types of crime.

Unmesh Desai, London Assembly member for City and East, said: “We do not really know the full scale of what is going on.”

Other intrafamily crimes that have taken place in Barking and Dagenham between January and September are 75 sexual offences, six robberies, 12 burglaries, nine vehicle offences, 39 thefts and 115 incidents of criminal damage and arson.

There were also three drugs offences, two weapons possessions and 14 other offences.

Across London, intra-family crime levels have been getting worse in recent years.

There were 40,154 such offences in 2014, 45,666 in 2015 and 46,410 in 2016.