Custard Cream Crime

Police were forced to record an incident of a man being hit by a biscuit as a “violent crime”, a new report has revealed.

The victim was hit by the flying treat after a minor disagreement with a woman, and was left with “small red mark”.

But due to Home Office rules about how crimes must be logged the incident was recorded as actual bodily harm (ABH), the police and crime commissioner for Norfolk said after carrying out an analysis of local crime data.


Stephen Bett, the commissioner, said: “You could not make this up – it’s jaw-dropping.

“I am sure people will find these examples of what the police are having to record as violent crime hard to believe to say the least.

“I frankly couldn’t believe what I was reading. Is it any wonder we have seen a rise in recorded violent crime in Norfolk if these types of incidents have to be logged?”

In other cases a child who was brushed across the arm with a stinging nettleby another child was also recorded as ABH.

And a mother who disciplined her child with slap on the hand was accused of "assault".

Mr Bett went on: "The last thing I want to do is to trivialise any incident where there is a victim but I am struggling to see how someone being hit by a biscuit or brushed by a stinging nettle fits anyone's idea of a violent crime."

In a bid to counter criticism that crime figures have been “fiddled” by forces in the past, many chief constables have introduced new rules designed to ensure crime is recorded accurately.