Cases of domestic violence in the borough rose by more than 4 per cent in the past year.

Metropolitan Police domestic crime figures showed cases rose from 48,000 between October 2011 and October 2012, to 51,000 in the following 12 months.

The rise in Kingston was below the London average of 6 per cent.

Some boroughs recorded surges of almost 20 per cent.

Kuljit Sandhu, from the London Probation Trust, said: “On the one hand it can be encouraging to see domestic violence continuing to come out of the shadows as victims find the courage to report it to police, but these statistics also show how far crime agencies have to go to, and the need for us all to work together to make victims safer.”

 

TODAY'S HEADLINES IN KINGSTON UPON THAMES