Knife cases in our area rise again

The number of people punished for possessing or threatening someone with a knife has risen in Avon and Somerset.

Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice show there were 500 knife possession offences that ended up with a caution or conviction last year.

The figure marks an increase of 3 per cent compared to 2018, and is up 6 per cent from 2017. The cases include possession of a knife or offensive weapon, or threatening offences - and don’t include assault or other knife crime.

The rise in people being cautioned or convicted for possession of knives comes as violent knife offences are on the rise.

Police recorded 917 offences involving a knife in the year to September 2019 - including 14 rapes or sexual assaults and six murders.

That was up from 843 across the previous 12 months.

Separate NHS figures show the number of people hospitalised by knives rose in Avon and Somerset in 2019.

Data published by the NHS shows an estimated 101 admissions to hospital for wounds caused by sharp weapons over the whole of 2019 in the Avon and Somerset Police area.

That was up by 13 per cent compared to the figure for 2018 - which saw around 90 hospital admissions for people who had been assaulted with a knife or other sharp object.

The figures, published monthly by NHS Digital, are rounded to the nearest five each month - meaning the actual total could be slightly higher or lower.

Nationally, the number of cautions or convictions for possessing a knife or offensive weapon reached its highest level in a decade last year.

Some 22,110 offences resulted in a sentence or a caution - up from 21,600 in 2018, and the highest figure since 25,105 in 2009.

That rise reflects a general increase in violent knife crimes the figure in England and Wales has risen every year since 2013/14, with police recording 44,771 in the year to last September.

That total excludes Greater Manchester Police who have had difficulties with their crime records IT system.

In England, 4,762 people were admitted to hospital after being assaulted with a knife or other sharp object in 2019.

That was down from 5,097 cases in 2018, and 4,904 in 2017.