BLADED ARTICLES

 

I have posted here more than a few times that there are statistics and there are criminal activity statistics. Perhaps none of those is of more concern to ordinary law abiding people than those on knife crime. Along with illegal drugs, possession of knife or bladed article is a prime reason why stop and search is so important to the safety of communities and especially to the teenage members of such communities. When these communities are of a high proportion of ethnic minority citizens the consequences for a number of reasons can be volatile.


Police-recorded possession offences in 2024 were similar to those of 2020. The number dealt in magistrates’ courts has been broadly stable or slightly lower in the 2020–2024 period. Courts were closed during 2020 lockdowns. Immediate custodial outcomes for knife/offensive-weapon offences fell in the most recent year to 2024.

The proportion of offenders receiving immediate custody has fallen from around ~33 % in the earlier years to ~29–31 % in more recent data

For the year ending March 2024: offences = 18,572. 

For the year ending December 2024: offences = 20,422. 

Proportion receiving immediate custody for year ending March 2024 = 29%. 

Proportion receiving immediate custody for year ending December 2024 = 30.9%. 

Prior to 2020/2021 levels: the proportion had been as high as ~38-39% in years ending June 2020. 

It`s interesting to note that the percentage of offenders receiving immediate custody has fallen from ~38-39% in around 2020 to ~29-31% in more recent years. The much vaunted mantra of Justice Secretaries for decades has been to reduce knife crime and to severely punish those guilty of such.  It would take a brave and overconfident statistician to argue that their targets have been achieved.  

And finally for those who prefer a single picture to 1,000 words:-