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Infanticide in England and Wales
Insights
Infants under one year face a fourfold higher risk of homicide in England and Wales. Despite falling infant mortality, infant homicide rates remain constant, with parents being the most common perpetrators.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Science
- Criminology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Infants under one year in England and Wales are significantly more vulnerable to homicide than older children or the general population.
- The annual infant homicide rate has remained static since 1957, contrasting with a declining infant mortality rate.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze detailed records of infant homicides in England and Wales between 1982 and 1988.
- To identify risk periods, perpetrator demographics, and sentencing patterns in infant homicide cases.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Home Office records for all infant homicide victims (under one year) from 1982-1988.
- Examination of perpetrator details, including parental involvement and conviction outcomes.
Main Results:
- Neonates (first day of life) and infants aged one day to one month represented 21% and 13% of victims, respectively.
- Parental perpetrators were most common; mothers were suspects in neonaticides, while fathers were more frequently suspects for older infants.
- Mothers convicted of neonaticide typically received probation, while fathers convicted of infant homicide received sentences unrelated to the violence used.
Conclusions:
- Infants, particularly neonates, are at a heightened risk of homicide, with parental violence being a significant factor.
- Sentencing disparities exist between mothers and fathers convicted of infant homicide, with mothers often receiving less severe outcomes regardless of the violence involved.
Abstract:
In England and Wales children under one year of age are at four times greater risk of becoming victims of homicide than either older children or the general population. The annual rate of infant homicide (45 per million) has remained relatively constant since the Homicide Act (1957) in contrast with a progressive fall in the infant mortality rate. Details from Home Office records of all infants under a year who were the victims of homicide during 1982-1988 are presented. Infants were most at risk on the first day of life--neonates accounted for 21% of victims and 13% of the victims were between one day and one month old. Thereafter the proportion decreased steadily so that by the final quarter of the first year the risk of becoming a homicide victim equalled that of the general population. Excluding neonates, there were more male victims than female ones, especially in the first three months. A parent was the most likely perpetrator. For all neonaticides the mother was recorded as a suspect, 36% of these mothers were subsequently indicted, all but two were convicted of infanticide and all their convictions resulted in probation. For children over a day marginally more fathers than mothers were recorded as the prime suspect. Mother and father suspects were equally likely to be indicted and also equally likely to be convicted of a homicide offence. However, mothers received both less severe convictions and less severe sentences than fathers. Fathers were more likely than mothers to have killed their infants using violence which wounded. Nonetheless sentences were unrelated to the brutality of the offence: mothers who had killed with wounding violence received less severe penalties than fathers who had killed in a non-wounding way.