Isle of Man faces 'increasing threat' from drug crime

Drug offences rose 6.8% between April 2019 and March 2020

Drug-related crime poses an "increasing threat to public safety", the Isle of Man's chief constable has said.

In his annual report, Gary Roberts said a continued rise in violent crime was "directly linked" to the drugs trade.

Police figures showed drug offences rose by 6.8% and serious assaults by 49% between April 2019 and March 2020.

Mr Roberts said despite the rise, the island remained the "safest" of the British Isles as the violence did not affect "ordinary, law-abiding people".

The island saw 31.3 crimes recorded per 1,000 people in the 2019-2020 period.

The official figures also showed all reported crime rose by 4.9% and almost 40% of reported crimes were assaults or drug-related offences.

Thefts rose by 0.8%, while property offences, such as criminal damage and arson, fell by 19.2% during the same period.