Police recorded more than 26,000 serious knife attacks in the financial year to March 2009, an increase of six per cent on the previous year's total. The figures have brought calls for tougher punishments for youths caught carrying knives. Police leaders admitted last night that the findings demonstrate that knife crime is "spreading". The count of knife offence will form a central plank of the annual crime statistics for England and Wales, to be published by the Home Office on July 16. It is only the second time that police forces have issued a breakdown of how many offences involved blades – meaning that, for the first time, there is an official verdict on whether knife crime is on the increase. The totals, which cover England and Wales, include only attacks where the victim was injured or mugged. If less-serious knife offences such as threats or illegal possession were included, the figures would be much higher. Also excluded are an estimated 270 fatal stabbings, which are counted separately by the Home Office. Worst-affected were the big urban areas – London, Manchester, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Merseyside – but hundreds of offences were also recorded in mainly-rural force areas such as Devon and Cornwall, Avon and Somerset, Cambridgeshire and Kent. The findings come a month after three men were found guilty of stabbing 16-year-old Ben Kinsella to death. He was stabbed 11 times while celebrating the end of his GCSE exams in Holloway, north London, in June last year. Police were questioning three people on Saturday after two men died of stab wounds in Gosport, Hampshire, on Friday. Ian Johnston, president of the Police Superintendents' Association, said: "These statistics show what everyone had feared: that knife crime is spreading. "Everyone needs to realise that this is not a problem that is contained within certain inner-city communities. It has gone beyond that. "There is still the belief, among some groups of people, that carrying a knife is acceptable. We need to stop this immediately and that requires a united effort. Mr Johnston said he welcomed many of the long-term initiatives that had been announced but warned that the Government needed to do more to address the problem in the short term. "There is an argument for introducing a year-long initiative whereby anyone who is stopped with a knife, whatever their age, is automatically remanded in custody and given a custodial sentence," he said. Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, called the figures "profoundly worrying". He said: "These figures suggest that the Government's efforts to tackle knife crime just aren't working. "There has to be a presumption that anyone caught carrying a knife should expect a custodial sentence. There must be real deterrents to carrying and using knives." Figures were provided by police forces in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act. Out of 43 police forces in England and Wales, 42 submitted data; only Lancashire did not. Across the 42 force areas, police recorded 26,277 serious offences involving knives and sharp instruments in the financial year to March 2009. In the previous 12 months the total in the same areas was 24,795. Among the offences recorded in 2008/9 were around 250 attempted murders, 7,500 cases of wounding with intent, 1,800 cases of grievous bodily harm, 3,300 robberies of business property and 13,600 robberies of personal property. Although London continued to account for more than a third of all knife offending in England and Wales, the capital reported a slight improvement in its figures, from 10,683 offences in 2007/8 to 10,497 in 2008/9. However, there were increased numbers of attacks in the next-biggest urban force areas – Greater Manchester, where the count rose from 2,294 to 2,881, and West Midlands, where it rose from 2,303 to 2,740. Avon and Somerset recorded one of the biggest increases, from 360 offences in 2007/8 to 618 last year. Other significant increases came in Essex (289 to 507), Thames Valley (329 to 658), Cambridgeshire (100 to 259), Kent (327 to 364), Sussex (274 to 372) and West Mercia (144 to 178). Dorset, with just 17 serious knife crime offences last year and 47 the year before, had the lowest figures of any force. In 2007/8, for the first time, the Home Office collated data from police forces on categories of serious violent crime where a knife was used, including attempted murder, wounding with intent, grievous bodily harm and robbery. In 2008/9 the categories were extended to include other categories of violent and sexual offences where knives were used including threats to kill, actual bodily harm, rape and sexual assaults. But because the most recent figures include a breakdown of offences in the 2007/8 categories, an accurate year-on-year comparison can be made. Detectives expect the murder figures in the Crime in England and Wales report, published on July 16, to be similar to those for 2007/08, when sharp instruments were used in 270 of the 773 unlawful killings recorded by police.Knife crime is on the rise
Seventy-two people are stabbed or robbed at knifepoint in Britain every day, official figures have revealed.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
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