Knife crime in region falling
THE NUMBER of knife crimes in England and Wales was the highest on record last year, up seven per cent on the previous 12 months – but West Yorkshire saw a decrease.
Police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument rose to 45,627 for the year to December from 42,555 in 2018, figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
This was 49 per cent higher than when data of this kind was first collected in the year to March 2011, and is the highest number on record.
The number of such offences rose 13 per cent in the West Midlands and by five per cent in London, but dropped nine per cent in West Yorkshire – the three areas of the country with the highest rate per 100,000 population.
The report said: “Knife or sharp instrument offences continue to be concentrated in metropolitan areas across England and Wales, with around a third (34 per cent) of all offences recorded by the police in London.”
The rising trend in knife crimes could be driven by an increase in robberies, the ONS suggested, after the number soared 12 per cent to 83,930 from 75,022 in 2018.
The number of homicides rose by two per cent to 670, up from 655.
The total includes the bodies of the 39 Vietnamese people found in a lorry in Grays, Essex, in October. Excluding this, the number would have fallen by four per cent, the ONS said.
The figures also show a 15 per cent rise of homicides recorded by the Metropolitan Police in the last year – to 146 from 127.
Of all recorded homicides last year, 40 per cent involved a knife or sharp instrument.
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