FOI Ref: FOI/2022/3474
You asked
Please supply the numbers of people who have died in England & Wales (ideally separating the differences in deaths between England and Wales) as a result of strikes from objects fired from Crossbows between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2021 and if so, highlight whether the deaths were from deliberate strikes or suicides.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules.
The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or
b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
There is no specific ICD-10 code for deaths involving strikes from a crossbow or other rang weapons. The ICD-10 code which is potentially most applicable would be:
- W26 Contact with other sharp object(s)
- W26.8 Contact with other sharp objects not elsewhere classified
- W26.9 Contact with unspecified sharp objects
- X99 Assault by sharp object
The NOMIS webservice will provide data from 2013 to 2020 for 3 Digit ICD-10 codes, this would include deaths from the following codes W26, X78 and X99. However, we are unable to say if these deaths are specifically attributed to a crossbow.
However, we can provide you with a bespoke output including deaths from 1990 to 2021 using four-digit ICD-10 codes whilst looking at specific circumstances surrounding the death. Such services would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources, and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there may be a charge for this work which would be subject to our charging policy.
Suicides involving use of a crossbow
We have published the following user requested datasets relating to suicides by specific method:
Suicides by method, England, 2014 to 2017 registrations - Office for National Statistics
Suicides in England and Wales 2021 will be published in September 2022, this is due to the registration delays involved when a death is referred to the Coroner.
Due to the small numbers involved, we have included X78 - intentional self-harm with sharp object ICD-10 code in the "other category". This is consistent with the disclosure control methodology used for deaths. Section 39 of the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 (SRSA) renders it an offence to disclose information held by the Statistics Board for statistical purposes that would identify an individual. As we are prohibited by law from publishing statistics in which individuals can be identified, Section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies. Section 44 is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.