Knife crime is a persistent and worrying concern, especially as it impacts particularly upon young people and the disadvantaged, and various remedies have been tried over the years.
Knife crime statistics (2 MB , PDF)
Knife crime is a persistent and worrying concern, especially as it impacts particularly upon young people and the disadvantaged, and various remedies have been tried over the years.
In the year ending March 2020, there were around 46,000 (selected) offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales. Recent trends in offences have been affected by undercounting in the Greater Manchester Police Force area prior to 2018/19. In addition, due to ongoing problems, data from Greater Manchester Police is not available for the year 2019/20. Excluding figures from Greater Manchester, this is the highest number of offences since the year ending March 2011, the earliest point at which comparable data are available. This increase is directly related with improvements in recording practices.
In the year ending March 2019 there were 259 homicides (currently recorded) using a sharp instrument, including knives and broken bottles, accounting for 39% of all homicides – a decrease from the 285 recorded in the year ending March 2018.
London recorded the highest rate of 179 offences involving a knife per 100,000 population 2Fin 2019/20, a slight increase on a rate of 169 in 2018/19. Durham had the lowest rate of 26 offences per 100,000 individuals (down from 31 in 2018/19).
In the year ending June 2019, there were 22,306 disposals given for possession of a knife or offensive weapon. Juveniles (aged 10-17) were the offenders in 20% of cases.
There were 4,757 finished consultant episodes (FCE) recorded in English hospitals in 2019/20 due to assault by a sharp object. This was a decrease of nearly 8% compared to 2018/19 and 31% higher than in 2014/15.
Knife crime statistics (2 MB , PDF)
Statistics on the number of police recorded firearm offences are published by the ONS in the Crime in England & Wales bulletin. Gun related crime statistics are published by the ONS in the Offences involving the use of weapons: data tables.
This paper examines the regime for proscribing organisations under the Terrorism Act 2000. It explains the criteria that must be met for proscription, the associated criminal offences, and the process for deproscription. It also considers recently proscribed organisations, and some criticisms of the regime.
This Commons Library briefing paper gives a general overview of the extent of the problem of fly-tipping in England and the powers and responsibilities of the Environment Agency, local authorities and landowners to deal with it. It also sets out recent Government actions to tackle it and proposals for reform.
