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Published 12 March 2020
Knife and Offensive Weapon Sentencing Statistics, England and Wales – 2019
Main points
The number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) has been increasing since 2014.
In 2019 nearly 22,300 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS, an increase of 3% since 2018. The increase has been driven by possession of an article with a blade or point offences.
The proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence has remained stable for the last three years at around 38%.
Between 2009 and 2016 there was an increase in the proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence, from 23% in 2009 to 35% in 2016, but the trend has been stable over the last three years.
The average length of the custodial sentences received increased from 6.3 months in 2009 to 8.2 months in 2019.
For just under three quarters (71%) of offenders this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence
The proportion of offenders for whom this is their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence has been decreasing and is now at its lowest level since 2009 (80%).
The average custodial sentence received by offenders sentenced under section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 was 8.0 months in 2019
This has risen since 2016, the first full year after the legislation was established, where it was 7.1 months.
This publication presents key statistics describing the trends in the number of offenders receiving cautions and convictions for possession of a knife or offensive weapon offence in England and Wales. This also includes offences involving threatening with one of these types of weapons. It should be noted that figures for the latest year have been estimated and should be treated as provisional, please refer to the technical guide for further details.
2
1. Knife and offensive weapon offences overview
The number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal
Justice System (CJS) has been increasing since 2014.
In 2019, 22,285 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the
CJS, an increase of 3% since 2018.
Recent police recorded crime figures published by the ONS1 also showed an increase
in the number of knife and offensive weapon offences recorded. In the year ending
March 2013, 15,699 offences were recorded compared with 36,588 in the year ending
September 2019. Furthermore, information published by the Home Office on “Crime
outcomes in England and Wales” show that 51% of these offences resulted in a
charge or police caution in the year ending March 2019.2
Figure 1: Knife and offensive weapon offences by offence type, England and Wales,
annually from 2009 (Source: Table 1a)
0
5
10
15
20
25
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Number of offences (000s)
Year
Possession of an article with a blade or point Possession of an offensive weapon
Threatening with a knife or offensive weapon
Figure 1 shows that this increase is driven by possession of an article with a blade or point
offences. These offences have now increased to over 14,200 offences.
The number of adult offenders convicted or cautioned for a knife or offensive weapon
offence has increased by 3% in the last year while the number of juveniles convicted or
cautioned has increased by 2%.
1https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/year
endingjune2019, table A4
2 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-in-england-and-wales-2018-to-2019
3
2. Sentencing
The proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a
knife and offensive weapon offence has remained stable for the last three years
at around 38%
Between 2009 and 2016 there was an increase in the proportion of offenders
receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence,
from 23% in 2009 to 35% in 2016, but the trend has been stable over the last three
years.
The average length of the custodial sentences received increased from 6.3 months in
2009 to 8.2 months in 2019.
Figure 2: Knife and offensive weapon offences by disposal type, England and Wales,
annually from 2009 (Source: Table 1)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Percentage of offences
Year
Caution Absolute / Conditional discharge Fine
Community sentence Suspended sentence Immediate custody
Other disposal
The proportion of offenders receiving immediate custodial sentences has remained stable at
around 38% for the last three years, but has increased since 2009 when 23% received
immediate custodial sentences. In 2019 over 8,000 knife and offensive weapon offences
dealt with resulted in immediate custody compared with nearly 6,000 in 2009. This increase
has been driven by adults, for whom there was a 49% increase in offenders receiving
immediate custody in the period.
The increase in average custodial sentence length between 2009 and 2019 was seen in all
age groups and offence types but particularly for adults, for whom it increased from 6.2
months to 8.2 months, and for possession of blade or point offences, where it increased
from 5.4 months to 7.5 months.
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3. Offending History
For 71% of offenders this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession
offence
The proportion of offenders for whom this is their first knife or offensive weapon
possession offence has been decreasing and is now at its lowest level since 2009
(80%).
The decrease in the proportion of first time knife and offensive weapon offenders has been
seen for both adults and juveniles, with the proportion for adults decreasing from 77% to
68% between 2009 and 2019 and the proportion for juveniles decreasing from 91% to 83%
over the same period.
Figure 3: Number of previous cautions or convictions for the possession of a knife or
offensive weapon offence for offenders cautioned or convicted for a knife or
offensive weapon offence, England and Wales, annually from 2009 (Source:
Interactive Pivot Table Tool)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Number of occasions (000s)
Year
0 Previous convictions/cautions 1 Previous conviction/caution
2 Previous convictions/cautions 3 or more previous convictions/cautions
Figure 3 shows that whilst the proportion of first time offenders for this offence type has
fallen the number of offenders dealt with for their first knife and offensive weapons offence
has remained stable over the last three years.
Since 2014 both the number and proportion of offenders dealt with who had one or more
previous knife and offensive weapons possession offences increased year on year, rising
from 25% or 3,755 occasions to 29% or 5,795 occasions.
5
4. Sentencing under section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts
Act (CJCA) 20153
The average custodial sentence received by offenders sentenced under section 28
of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 was 8.0 months in 2019.
This has risen from 2016, the first full year after the legislation was established, where it
was 7.1 months. Over the same time period the average custodial sentence length has
increased from 7.2 to 8.1 months for adults and 5.8 to 7.6 months for 16 and 17 year
olds.
Figure 4: Knife and offensive weapons possession sentencing and cautioning
occasions for adult repeat offenders, by disposal type, 2014 and annually from 2016
(Source: Interactive Pivot Table Tool and Table 7)4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2014 2016 2017 2018 2019
Percentage of occasions
Year
Caution Absolute / Conditional Discharge/Fine/Other Community Sentence Suspended Sentence Immediate Custody
Section 28 of the
Criminal Justice and
Courts Act was
introduced in July 2015
Following the commencement of section 28 of the CJCA 2015, a court must impose a
minimum custodial sentence5 on an offender who has been convicted of a second or
subsequent offence involving possession of a knife or offensive weapon. The court must
impose the minimum sentence unless it would not be in the interest of justice to do so.
3 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/2/part/1/crossheading/repeat-offences-involving-offensive-weaponsetc
4 Figures for 2014 have been taken from the Interactive Pivot Table tool while the figures for other years have
been taken from Table 7.
5 At least 6 months for adults and at least 4 months for juveniles aged 16 or 17.
6
In 2014, prior to the introduction of this legislation, half (50%) of adult knife and offensive weapons possession offenders with at least one previous knife and offensive weapons possession offence received an immediate custodial sentence. In 2019 two thirds (66%) of adult offenders sentenced under section 28 of the CJCA 2015 received an immediate custodial sentence. Overall 86% of adult offenders sentenced under section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 in 2019 received some form of custodial sentence, either immediate custody or a suspended sentence, compared to 69% of adult offenders with at least one previous knife and offensive weapons offence in 2014.
For 16 and 17 year olds, in 2019 44% of offenders sentenced under section 28 of the CJCA 2015 received an immediate custodial sentence compared to 28% of knife and offensive weapons possession offenders with at least one previous knife and offensive weapons possession offence in 2014.