Chapter 11

COMMON ROBBERY

In a common robbery incident, offenders usually do not have a firearm. In order to execute the robbery, they use swift action and the element of surprise to ensure that they manage to take the victim’s possessions.



In this research, conclusions are drawn from 87 incidents analysed, which comprised 11% of the docket sample.



Common robberies, although prevalent throughout the day and night, occur most commonly between 16h00 and 20h00 (29.4%), although such incidents also occur often between 08h00 and 12h00 (20%).



In this sample, 80.2% of common robberies occurred in the inner city or central business district. There were a number of other significant locations where common robberies occurred, such as private residential properties (4.7%), public residential spaces (7%) and places of entertainment (4.7%).



Common robbery is a property crime and, as a result, the victim of the crime (97.7%) usually reported it to the police.



Police detection of common robberies is low. It was found that 79.1% (68 out of 87 cases) of all common robberies are undetected. In addition, 14% of common robbery cases are withdrawn by the Department of Justice. A range of reasons could inform the withdrawal of cases, such as witnesses changing their testimony, insufficient evidence, and others.



Of the 18 common robberies that were detected, the type of penalty imposed was low. In only seven dockets were sentences reflected: in two cases, a fine was imposed (at a value of between R1 000-R1 999 and R4 000-R4 999), and in five cases, a prison sentence was imposed (ranging from less than a year to a maximum of nine years).



In the 87 common robberies, 283 people were involved: 179 offenders, 101 victims and three intervening third parties. On average, 3.25 people were involved in each incident. For every one incident, 2.06 offenders and 1.16 victims were involved. The ratio of victims to offenders is 1:1.77. In 98.9% of the incidents, victims and offenders did not know one another.



In the 87 common robberies, 119 firearms and 33 other weapons were involved. Of the firearms involved, 45 were held by offenders, 72 were held by victims and two were in the possession of a third party intervening.



It was found that 97.7% of offenders were male. The race profile of the sample of offenders was as follows: 1.8% Asian; 9.4% coloured; and 88.9% African. There was insufficient information to provide a valid profile of the age, vocation or employment status of offenders.



It was found that 92.1% of common robbery victims were male and 7.9% were female. The race profile of victims was as follows: 28.7% white; 47.5% African; 13.9% coloured; and 9.9% Asian. In terms of age, 38.3% were between the ages of 21 to 30 years, while 39.3% were between the ages of 31 to 50 years. Overall, 78.5% of victims were employed.



It was found that 25.1% of the offenders had firearms, 57.0% had no weapon and 17.9% had another type of weapon (such as a knife or panga). Considering the 45 firearms held by offenders, it was found that the majority of offenders carried handguns: 97.1% carried pistols and 2.9% carried revolvers. Three of the offenders used licenced firearms.



It was found that 72 of the 101 victims (71.3%) in 267 cases carried firearms. Victims all carried handguns (52 pistols and 15 revolvers), except three victims who were in possession of a shotgun. It was found that 98.5% of these firearms were licenced.



In 50.6% of cases, violence was used, in 32.5% threats were made and in 16.9% of cases, no violence or threats were necessary to perpetrate common robbery. Of the 101 victims, 31.7% were injured. Of the 179 offenders, 2.8% were injured. One offender was fatally injured with a firearm. Three victims were injured with a firearm.



In common robberies, the levels of injury sustained by the victim with or without a firearm were similar, although there were marginally (a 3.1% difference) more injuries to those victims in possession of a firearm. There was no significant difference in the level of injury sustained by offenders with or without a firearm (see table 56 below).

Table 56: Cross-tabulation of victims and offenders in possession of a firearm and injuries in common robberies
	Victim in possession of firearm		Victim not in possession of firearm		Offender in possession of firearm		Offender not in possession of firearm
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Injury	25	34.7	6	31.6	1	2.2	2	3.5
No injury	47	65.3	13	68.4	44	97.8	55	96.5
Total	72	100	19	100	45	100	57	100

In 17.8% of common robbery cases, items were stolen from victims. It was found that victims in possession of firearms had fewer items stolen than victims without firearms.

Table 57: Cross-tabulation of victims in possession of a firearm and items stolen in common robberies
	Victim in possession of firearm		Victim not in possession of firearm
	Count	%	Count	%
No items stolen	57	79.2	17	89.5
Items stolen	15	20.8	2	10.5
Total	72	100	19	100