Knives on Britain’s streets at highest level for nearly a DECADE: Police caught 22,306 thugs with deadly blades in last year, official data shows
- More than 22,000 people were caught with knives or weapons in the last year
- It is highest number on record since 2010 when 22,689 offences were recorded
- The MoJ figures also show immediate jail sentences are at highest ever level
More than 22,000 thugs were caught with knives or dangerous weapons in the last year and the number of immediate jail sentences are at their highest level since records began, figures show.
In the 12 months to the end of June, 22,306 offences were formally dealt with by the courts in England and Wales, up from 21,314 on the same period the previous year.
This is the highest number on record since 2010 when 22,689 offences were dealt with, but it is not the highest level ever recorded as a year earlier, in the same period in 2009, the figure was 27,225.
The Ministry of Justice figures also give an indication of the efforts to crackdown on knife crime, as in the in the last year over a third (38 per cent or 8,446 offences) of these type of offences resulted in immediate custody.
Official figures show in the 12 months to the end of June, 22,306 offences were formally dealt with by the courts in England and Wales, up from 21,314 on the same period the previous year
A Ministry of Justice graph showing the number of knife crime offences by weapon type up to the year ending June 2019
A graph showing how the number of knife crime offenders receiving ‘immediate custody’ is at its highest level since records began
This compares with just 6,212 offences or 23 per cent in the year ending June 2009. This increase has been driven by adults, for whom there was a 39% increase in offenders receiving immediate custody in the period.
The average length of the custodial sentences received also increased over the same period, from 5.9 months to 8.1 months.
For just under three quarters (71 per cent) of offenders this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence.
The average custodial sentence received by offenders was 7.9 months in the year ending June 2019. This has risen from the first full year after section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 was introduced, the year ending June 2017, where it was 7.1 months.
More follows.