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The majority of murders committed in the UK happen because the perpetrator feels they’ve been ‘disrespected’, a top crimonologist has claimed.
This emotion, combined with the lack of inhibition triggered by alcohol or illicit drugs, make a toxic duo that can lead to violence.
‘He might not set out to kill, but he certainly is setting out to physically harm the person he believes has disrespected him,’ said David Wilson, Emeritus Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University, on a recent episode of the YouTube series, Honesty Box.
‘He wants to regain a sense of who he is in that five minutes of madness.
‘That is a typical murder in this country’.
Prof Wilson said this happens most often on a ‘Friday or Saturday night in Britain’, and involves young men in nine out of 10 cases.
Professor Wilson went on to explain in the show, produced by media firm Ladbible, that murder is overwhelmingly a ‘male phenomenon’, especially among those in their teens and 20s.
‘Men in my generation need to talk to younger men about how to perform masculinity, which is something men are very reluctant to do,’ he said.
Professor David Wilson explained one of driving factors for why men account for the majority of murderers in UK is what happens on a typical weekend in dozens of British towns and cities
‘We leave that discussion to social media influencers like the Tate brothers and all that does is store up further problems for us in the future.’
Social media influencer Andrew Tate has become notorious for his abhorrent views on women and manhood, and is accused of inflicting his large influence on an entire generation of young men.
Tate, 38, was charged with trafficking and sexually exploiting women in Romania in December 2021, and the matter is still ongoing.
He also faces a separate criminal investigation in the nation over allegations of trafficking of minors, as well as sexual intercourse with a minor.
In Britain meanwhile, he has been charged with rape and assault, as well as tax evasion.
He denies all wrongdoing.
Professor Wilson said the ‘five minutes of madness’ scenario he described was far more common than incidences of murder at the hands of a serial killer.
He explained serial killers kill to exercise a ‘god-like power’ — they get a thrill out of deciding ‘who should live and who should die’.
The majority of victims of serial killers are women, he added, followed by gay men.
‘The two groups of women and girls that are most regularly targeted by serial killers are women over the age of 60 and sex workers.’
This chart shows the number of homicides recorded in England and Wales over time, the dark blue line shows the number of male victims and the light blue the number of female victims
He said to reduce the rate of serial murder in Britain would require a number of ‘grown up’ conversations.
‘You would challenge homophobia, have a grown up debate about how you police those young women and some young men who sell sexual service,’ he said.
‘Above all we would start trying to give a voice to older people in our culture as opposed to seeing them as a burden on the state.’
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows there were 570 murder victims in England and Wales in the year ending March 2024. Of these, 414 were men.
By age group young, those aged 16 to 24 accounted for the majority of murders with 105 victims, followed closely by 35-to-44 year-olds.
