Hospital records of violence fall further

The number of people treated in hospital after violent injury fell in England and Wales in 2010, an annual and authoritative study says.

Doctors dealt with an estimated 313,000 violent incidents, down 11% in a year, the Cardiff University study said.

But for the second year running, the figures saw an unexplained rise in the small number of young children who went to hospital after a violent injury.

The study says the overall trend in violence has now fallen for a decade.

The annual research by the university's Violence and Society Research Group tries to capture an accurate picture of violence by counting incidents recorded at 59 emergency departments or minor injury units in England and Wales.