Courts are going soft on teen knife criminals — as number being jailed for first offence down by almost half

COURTS are going soft on teen knife criminals with the number being jailed for a first offence down by almost half across the country.

And we can reveal there is a growing number of children — 541 in the year to July 2021 — expelled from school for brandishing weapons in class, with another 7,763 suspended.

Ministry of Justice figures show the number of ten to 17-year-old knife offenders given custody fell from ten per cent in March 2020 to six per cent in the year to March this year.

But there has been a huge increase in community sentences for 16 and 17-year-old knife offenders.

The Ministry of Justice said: “We’ve toughened laws punishing knife-carrying offenders.”

Tory MP Tim Loughton said: “What is really important is that young people who choose to get involved in knife crime with potentially fatal weapons know there is a serious punishment.”

Shabana Mahmood MP, Shadow Justice Secretary: “These are incredibly damning stats that show the extent of the Tories’ crisis in the criminal justice system and how badly they are failing to tackle dangerous knife crime.

“We need strong action to stop young people carrying knives but instead it is getting weaker and weaker under the Tories because the criminal justice system is in such a mess.

“Labour will increase local policing, strengthen enforcement and bring in new youth mentors to prevent youth violence as part of our mission to halve knife crime.”