Britain’s knife crime epidemic laid bare: Fatal stabbings are now at highest level since records began in 1946
- The knife crime crisis plaguing Britain is revealed in official national statistics
- There were 285 fatal stabbings in the year ending March 2018, the highest ever
- London saw starkest concentration of crimes with knives and sharp instruments
- Meanwhile the number of deaths by shooting dropped by three, to 29 in total
Britain’s knife crime epidemic is laid bare in depressing official figures with the number of fatal stabbings now at the highest level since records began in 1946.
Some 285 people were stabbed to death in the year ending March 2018, with attacks ‘most pronounced’ in young men, the Office of National Statistics reveal.
Highlighting a worrying increase in violence plaguing Britain, there were 726 killings recorded overall – 20 more than the previous year – which represents a three per cent increase, and the highest number in more than 70 years.
Some 285 people were stabbed to death in the year ending March 2018, with attacks ‘most pronounced’ in young men, the Office of National Statistics say (file image shows the scene of a stabbing in Battersea on February 6, where a 19-year-old man was knifed to death)
Stats released today show that stabbings are by far the most common cause of death in homicide cases, nearly three times the second most common, which is beating
However, when excluding mass murders such as the London Bridge, Westminster and Manchester terror attacks, which claimed the lives of 35 innocent victims in 2017, the rise is more pronounced, increasing by 89, or 15 per cent, from 606 to 695.
London witnessed the starkest concentration of crimes involving knives and sharp instruments, highlighting the capital’s ongoing bloody crisis. A murder-map below shows the number and location of killings in the capital in 2018.
The ONS report states: ‘The number of homicides was the highest since the year ending March 2008, when 729 were recorded.
‘The rise in homicide seen in recent years has been most pronounced in male victims and those in younger age groups.
‘There were 12 offences of homicide per million population, and the homicide rate for males (17 per million population) was just over double that for females (8 per million population).’
Meanwhile the report indicted that number of deaths by shooting dropped by three, to 29 in total.
MailOnline map shows the number and location of murders to hit the capital as the bloodbath continues
ONS graph highlights that knives and other sharp instruments were the most common method of killing
The report also gave an indication of the race of victims; 25 percent of which were black and 63 percent of which were white.
The report states: ‘The latest figures show just under two-thirds of sharp instrument homicide victims were white (63%, 179 homicides), while a further quarter (25%; 70 victims) were black.
‘This is both the highest number and proportion of black victims of sharp instrument homicides since these data were first collected in the year ending March 1997.’
Elsewhere in the report the number of women likely to be killed by partners or ex-partners remained high, with 33 per cent of female victims compared to one percent of male victims.