A “marked increase” in robberies in Gwynedd includes cases of children having their mobile phones taken.

Gwynedd Council’s communities scrutiny committee has heard of a “small but marked” rise in robbery offences in the county.

Crime data recorded 34 incidents of robbery for the period 1 April–31 December 2025/26, compared to 16 in the same months for 2024/25, representing an 112.5 per cent rise in robbery offences in Gwynedd, compared to the 12.4 per cent increase recorded for north Wales.

The report stated robbery volumes were considered “small” but there had been “a marked increase” so far for 2025/26.

“The data shows no clear patterns to the offences, with no repeat suspects,” the report stated.

“In total, 24 individuals have been linked as a suspect, or have been arrested or charged in connection with 17 of the offences.”

With regard to the recent rise in “robbery clusters” in Gwynedd, North Wales Police Chief Inspector Stephen Pawson said: “Unfortunately, there has been no pattern to the robberies and they have been across a number of different wards.

“They have featured different victims, they have featured individuals that have been fuelled by alcohol or drugs.

“On occasions, we have had individuals that have fallen out with neighbours or children who have been victims of having their mobile phones taken.

“It’s been very sporadic. But we do give focus to robbery, given it is a serious crime, and it is subject to quite rigorous governance.

“I can assure, in the majority of cases, they have led to suspects being arrested or charged.”

Burglary residential and burglary business and community offences had seen reductions this year, whilst the volumes of vehicle crime and theft and handling had seen slight increases.

A rise had been seen in the ‘violence without injury’ category, which went from 1179 to 1293 incidents – a percentage rise of 9.7 per cent, compared to the lower north Wales figure of 4.0 per cent.

All victim based crime went up in the county from 6419 incidents to 6648, a 3.6 per cent rise for the county, as compared to the 0.6 per cent change for north Wales.

Domestic incidents (non-crime) went up from 683 incidents to 758, by 11 per cent, slightly lower than the north Wales percentage change of 15 per cent.

Sexual offences in Gwynedd saw a small decrease to -1.5 per cent, in comparison to 2024/25, although it was noted there could be “significant fluctuations” in reported offences week to week, partly due to reporting of historic offences.

The decrease in Gwynedd was however “contrary to the picture” of the volumes of sexual offences occurring in north Wales, in 2025/26, where a 5.8 per cent increase was seen overall.

A slight increase of 2.9 per cent, in the year-to-date volume of criminal damage and arson offences had been seen so far in Gwynedd, compared to 2024/25. This differed to the picture across north Wales as a whole, where a decrease has been seen of -6.3 per cent.