Injuries caused by knife attacks in region soars

HOSPITAL INJURY FIGURES AT HIGHEST LEVEL

THE number of people admitted to hospital for serious injuries caused by knife attacks has rocketed in Hull.

There were 75 people treated for serious injuries at hospitals across Hull and East Yorkshire following knife attacks in the past year – the highest number since comparable records began six years ago.

The number has risen dramatically from 47 in 2016/17, and is more than twice as high as the 31 recorded in 2012/13.

The news comes with figures showing Humberside Police are dealing with record levels of serious offences involving knives.

Crime figures released last week revealed there were 574 serious offences involving a knife in the Humberside Police area in the year to June 2018. Offences included murder, attempted murder, sexual assaults and robbery.

This was the highest number of knife crimes in a single year since published numbers began in 2011.

Hull Live recently revealed how doctors at Hull Royal Infirmary are on average treating a victim of knife crime every week.

Doctor Ben Rayner, emergency department consultant at Hull Royal Infirmary, spoke out as part of Hull Live’s #Nomoreknives campaign which aims to educate young people on the dangers of knives.

Dr Rayner says he and his team always plan for the worse when it comes to stabbing injuries.

He said: “We certainly don’t assume because the person is relatively well when they come in they haven’t actually got internal bleeding and are going to deteriorate.

“We always assume and prepare for the worse.

“The thing to remember is we can only see the wound on the skin, so if you have a 6in knife all we know is that it has gone through that point of the skin and it can be a little cut.

“We don’t know what direction the blade has gone in, we don’t know if it has just gone straight in and how far, so that’s the information we need to put together.”

Crime figures released last Thursday revealed one in every 24 serious offences reported to Humberside Police involved a knife.

As well as this, 10 per cent of threats to kill, three per cent of assaults with injury or intent to cause serious harm, 16 per cent of robberies and just under one per cent of rapes and sexual assaults involved a knife in the year to June 2018.

Humberside Police are working alongside Hull Live, Hull 180 and the Rich Foundation as part of the #Nomoreknives campaign.

The campaign recently visited secondary schools across Hull with a moving presentation from Kayleigh Pepper, whose brother Rich Pepper was stabbed to death outside his east Hull home in 2015.

Humberside Police have also been running a knife amnesty.