Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0Bessbrook stands out for anti-social behaviour: 3.3 times the rate of a typical town its size
Bessbrook’s overall Safety Grade is C+ (#6 of 10 in Newry, Mourne and Down): more crime per resident than 65% of UK towns, on crimes the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded inside its settlement from September 2023 to August 2026. Each year brought 23.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents. More crime per resident is recorded in 34% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bessbrook
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 10% less violent crime per resident in Bessbrook than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Bessbrook has the 642nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Highley, Holsworthy and Pontycymer, higher than Barlestone, Church Warsop and Chipping Ongar. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Bessbrook’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 347 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bessbrook against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Bessbrook runs highest on anti-social behaviour (29.4 per 1,000 against 8.8), drugs (3.5 per 1,000 against 1) and criminal damage & arson (12.8 per 1,000 against 4.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 85 | 29.4 | 8.8 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 62 | 21.4 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 37 | 12.8 | 4.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 10 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 2.8 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 7 | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 7 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 5 | 1.7 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1.4 | 2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 1 | 0.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
How Bessbrook’s neighbourhoods rank in Northern Ireland
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods, and 6% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime and disorder domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and deliberate fires where people live, on 2014–15 figures (NISRA’s latest edition), so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Bessbrook’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (Super Output Area, about 2,000 people) in the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (crime and disorder domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Northern Ireland’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
642nd of 856: Bessbrook among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 79 | Saintfield Newry, Mourne and Down | 3,588 | 11.6 | 4.8 | 2.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 197 | Rostrevor Newry, Mourne and Down | 2,502 | 15.1 | 6 | 1.6 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 383 | Killyleagh Newry, Mourne and Down | 2,787 | 20 | 7.5 | 9.7 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 639 | Barlestone Leicestershire | 2,563 | 26.7 | 12.9 | 4.9 | C+ |
| 640 | Church Warsop Nottinghamshire | 2,139 | 29.9 | 9.8 | 4.4 | C+ |
| 641 | Chipping Ongar Essex | 3,922 | 26.9 | 12.9 | 16.7 | C+ |
| 642 | Bessbrook Newry, Mourne and Down | 2,892 | 23.3 | 16.7 | 2.8 | C+ |
| 643 | Berinsfield Oxfordshire | 2,773 | 32.1 | 7.9 | 6.9 | C+ |
| 644 | Shirland and Stonebroom Derbyshire | 3,988 | 31.9 | 8.2 | 4.4 | C+ |
| 645 | Glyn-neath West Glamorgan | 3,927 | 31.3 | 8.8 | 6.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Bessbrook, and others in Newry, Mourne and Down.
Violent crime down 10% in a year, while towns its size held steady
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data; England and Wales towns only).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -10% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +45% (towns its size -1%), anti-social behaviour +1% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Bessbrook per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 17 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 3 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Bessbrook’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 11 collisions with injuries inside Bessbrook in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Bessbrook is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bessbrook’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Bessbrook had 2.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured is as the Police Service of Northern Ireland recorded it: the Department for Transport’s adjustment, which evens out different ways of recording injuries, covers Great Britain’s forces only, and the towns its size are Great Britain’s. There’s no national rate here: more than three quarters of Northern Ireland’s road deaths (77%) happen outside every town’s settlement boundary. Source: PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions, 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Bessbrook’s settlement, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bessbrook
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessbrook | 2,892 | 23.3 | 16.7 | C+ |
| Newry | 28,530 | 35.7 | 19.9 | C− |
| Warrenpoint and Burren | 9,091 | 16.8 | 7.5 | B+ |
| Rostrevor | 2,502 | 15.1 | 6 | A− |
| Tandragee | 3,545 | 13.9 | 6.8 | A− |
| Banbridge | 17,400 | 28.2 | 10.8 | C+ |
Bessbrook records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 5 neighbours; only Newry records more. Warrenpoint and Burren, 8.5 miles away, records 16.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bessbrook’s 23.3.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Bessbrook sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the settlement can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Bessbrook
Is Bessbrook safe?
Police recorded 23.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bessbrook’s settlement). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 35% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Bessbrook is 642nd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Bessbrook?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 10%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 45%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bessbrook?
Violence & sexual offences: 62 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (37) and drugs (10), with 85 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bessbrook compare with Craigavon?
Craigavon records 30.9 violent and sexual offences and 12.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bessbrook’s 23.3 and 16.7, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime (Police Service of Northern Ireland), 36 months to August 2026, points inside the settlement boundary · NISRA Census 2021, data zones best-fitted to the NISRA Settlement Development Limits 2015 (settlement totals from NISRA where it publishes them) · NISRA Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017, crime and disorder domain by Super Output Area (residents from NISRA Census 2021 data zones by area) · PSNI police recorded injury road traffic collisions 2021–2025 (Open Data NI), points inside the settlement boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.