The Met Police recorded 652 incidents of sexual offences in Barnet in the twelve months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics. The news comes after a man from Cricklewood was charged last week with raping a woman in Golders Green.

Adhnon Marrtabb, 23, of Tilling Road, was charged on 2nd November with rape and bodily harm in relation to the sexual assault against a 28-year-old woman at Hodford Road, Golders Green, on 25th October.

The accused will appear at Harrow Crown Court for a plea and preparation hearing on 30th November.

According to the latest statistics, Adhnon’s charge is one of many sexual offences that have happened in Barnet in the last year. Overall, there has been an increase of 19% reported sexual offences compared to 2020. At 1.6 crimes per 1,000 people, that was slightly lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 2.8.

Around 5.8 million offences were recorded across England and Wales in the year to June – in line with the previous year – though there was a 3% decrease to 4.9 million offences when excluding fraud and computer misuse.

Nick Stripe, head of crime statistics at the ONS, said the figures showed overall reductions in the reporting and recording of many crime types during periods of lockdown. However, reports of fraud and hacking continued to rise – something the ONS previously suggested was due to criminals taking advantage of behavioural changes during the pandemic, while many took to online shopping amid lockdowns when there were restrictions on movement.

The total number of offences in Barnet fell by 6%, with police recording 27,278 crimes over the course of the year. This puts the overall crime rate at 68.4 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 81.3.

Other crimes recorded in Barnet included:

7,653 violent offences, a rise of 3%

12,787 theft offences, down 12%

1,825 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 7%

129 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 25%

2,056 public order offences, up 17%

The ONS figures show 61,158 rapes were recorded across England and Wales in the 12 months to June – the highest recorded annual figure to date, and up by 10% from 55,779 the year before.

The second-highest number of sexual offences was also recorded over the period (164,763) – an 8% increase on the previous year.

The ONS urged caution when interpreting the data. Mr Stripe added: “The rise could be due to an increase in victim reporting as lockdowns eased, an increase in the number of victims, or to an increase in victims’ willingness to report incidents, potentially as a result of high-profile cases and campaigns in recent times.”

Jeffrey DeMarco, assistant director at the charity Victim Support, said: “Much more needs to be done urgently to tackle both these offences and to ensure that those who come forward and report them are able to access justice.”