Seven knife crimes every day in city

WEST Midlands Police are now dealing with seven knife crimes every day as violence continues to stalk the city.

New official figures show there were 2,850 knife crimes in the area served by West Midlands Police over 12 months.

That is up from 2,394 the year previously, and represents an increase of 19 per cent. The figures include 1,591 robberies where a knife was used, and 1,124 incidents of assault using a knife. There were 38 cases of attempted murder using a knife, and 23 actual homicides.

The figures were published just days after a fatal stabbing in Yardley Wood last reports of another Selly Oak Park.

Labour MPs said West Midlands Police do not have the resources to keep people safe.

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe said: “The figures show a shocking increase in knife crime across England and Wales, which is affecting our communities right across Birmingham.

“What did the Government expect when their cuts to police budgets have led to 2,000 fewer officers in the West Midlands?

“The Government need to take urgent action to reverse this dreadful rise in knife crime and week and stabbing in commit to properly resourcing our police so they can do their job.”

Erdington MP Jack Dromey added: “The Government is betraying the first duty of any government – the safety and security of its citizens.”

But Conservative Solihull MP Julian Knight said West Midlands Crime Commissioner David Jamieson was failing to make good use of resources. “The buck stops with the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, who is sitting pretty on more than one hundred million in reserves while closing down our police stations,” he argued.