Arson attacks have increased as the nation has come out of the pandemic. Home Office figures show that during the year ending in March, there were 24,811 crimes of arson recorded by police last year, a 6.9% rise on 23,218 in 2020-21, when the country was under much harsher lockdown restrictions due to the pandemic and many different types of crime decreased.
However, it is below the pre-pandemic figure of 26,167. That includes 4,116 arson attacks in 2021-22 where lives were put at risk - up from 3,950 the previous year and 4,024 before the pandemic.
Recent crimes of arson include a horrifying attack on kennels at an allotment in Rhymney, Caerphilly which killed eight dogs that were reportedly doused in petrol before they were set alight. A similarly sick crime took place in County Durham where two dogs were snatched from a garden in the village of Ouston. One of the dogs escaped, but the other was doused in petrol and set on fire.
