Knife crime up by 7% in a year to hit an all-time high, official figures show

KNIFE crime has risen by seven per cent in a year to hit an all-time high, official figures show.

But fewer crime suspects than ever are being taken to court, separate data reveals.

Police recorded 44,076 incidents involving knives or sharp instruments in England and Wales in the 12 months to June.

Almost half of these were stabbings while 43 per cent were robberies.

The total does not include figures from Greater Manchester Police — the UK’s third largest force — which records data differently.

Joe Traynor, of the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said: “While overall levels of violence have remained steady, the number of offences involving a knife has continued to increase.”

Javed Khan, chief exec of children’s charity Barnardo’s, said: “It is totally unacceptable that the knife-crime crisis continues to claim so many young lives.”

ONS figures also showed that all crimes recorded by police rose by seven per cent too, to more than 6million.

Violent crimes rose by 15 per cent to almost 1.7million while homicides fell by five per cent, from 719 to 681.

And murders featuring blades dropped by 14 per cent to 248.

This was driven mainly by a decrease in London, say the statisticians.

In addition, there was an 11 per cent rise in robbery to 88,177 offences, with 41 per cent of these recorded in the capital.

Gun crime was up four per cent to 6,734.

Meanwhile figures released by the Home Office for the same period reveal crimes resulting in a charge or summons fell to a record low of 7.4 per cent.

A total of 393,112 suspects were charged or ordered to be in court.

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