Exclusive new data shows that among the victims abducted from Birmingham this year, there was a child as young as three years old.
In 2023, chilling new police data reveals that a three-year-old child was among the victims abducted from Birmingham. So far this year, a total of 219 people, including toddlers, teenagers, and elderly individuals, have been taken across the city.
According to data obtained through a Freedom of Information request from West Midlands Police, a total of 1,170 people have been kidnapped since 2020. Shockingly, less than five percent of the perpetrators behind these kidnappings have been charged, and evidential difficulties have been the reason for not pursuing further action in 64 percent of cases.
A spokesperson for the police emphasized that they take kidnapping very seriously and employ various tactics to protect victims and bring the offenders to justice. The data includes the exact ages of every reported victim, indicating that teenagers between the ages of 17 and 20 are the most likely targets. Even elderly individuals up to the age of 90 have been among those kidnapped, according to the statistics.
Kidnappings have been increasing year by year, with 249 reported cases in 2020, 330 in 2021, and a total of 372 in the following year. Shockingly, data up to August of the current year shows that six babies under the age of one have been kidnapped over the past few years. One baby was kidnapped in 2020, two in 2021, and three were abducted last year. Below, we have broken down the age brackets for kidnappings between 2020 and August of 2023.
0 – 5
24
6 – 10
18
10 – 15
45
16 – 20
253
21 – 25
169
26 – 30
154
31 – 35
142
36 – 40
137
41 – 45
88
46 – 50
51
51 – 55
27
56 – 60
30
61 – 65
10
66 – 70
7
71 – 75
5
76 -80
1
80 – 85
2
86 – 90
2
Not recorded
5
The West Midlands Police spokesperson stated, “We take kidnapping incredibly seriously and employ various tactics to protect victims and bring offenders to justice. When necessary, we collaborate with other agencies, including local authorities, to ensure that potential kidnap victims are safeguarded.”
