Knife crimes rise to record levels

Record numbers of serious crimes involving knives were recorded in Avon and Somerset last year.

There were 911 serious crimes reported to police in Avon and Somerset in 2019 where the offender had a knife or sharp object, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was the highest number recorded since comparable figures began in 2010/11.

The number is up by 8 per cent in a year, from 847 recorded in 2018.

It is also up by 64 per cent from 556 crimes recorded between April 2010 and March 2011.

In 2019, there were five killings, 18 attempted murders, 11 rapes or sexual assaults, 301 robberies, 98 threats to kill, and 478 assaults involving a knife or sharp object.

Overall, crime in Avon and Somerset is up by 2 per cent year on year, with 138,730 offences recorded in 2019.

Within that there has been a 5 per cent increase in violence against a person, a 3 per cent rise in sexual offences, and a 23 per cent rise in robberies. However, theft offences dropped by 3 per cent.

Across England and Wales, figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) suggest crime levels may have started to fall - down by an estimated 5 per cent in 2019.

The figures, which ask about people’s experience of crime, are seen as a better measure of overall crime levels, while police recorded crime figures, which rose by 4 per cent in 2019, show how many offences are being dealt with by police.

The fall seen in the CSEW was largely driven by a 9 per cent drop in thefts, while other crimes showed little change.

Joe Traynor, from the Office for National Statistics Centre for Crime and Justice, noted the figures pre-date the coronavirus outbreak - police forces have reported a 28 per cent drop in crime reports since social distancing was put in place.

He said: “It is not possible to say whether this would have come to represent a change from the flat trend in recent years, as it is likely that the current lockdown will have an impact on the level of crime in 2020.

“The 2019 data revealed different patterns for specific types of crime, for instance, robbery increased but burglary decreased, while fraud and lower-harm violent offences remained stable.

“Although the number of homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was used fell across the country, it increased in London.”

The police recorded 5.8 million crimes in England and Wales (excluding Greater Manchester Police, due to issues with its IT systems) in 2019.

Of those, 45,627 were serious crimes involving knives or sharp objects, the highest number since records began and a 7 per cent rise since 2018.

However, analysis of accident and emergency data by Cardiff University suggests levels of serious violence may be falling.

It found the number of people injured in violence in England and Wales who were treated in A&ES in 2019 dropped by 6.3 per cent from 2018 - the steepest drop since 2015.

Professor Jonathan Shepherd, one of the report authors from the University’s Crime and Security Research Institute, said: “In all the concern about Covid-19 we mustn’t lose sight of other serious threats to public health.

“This reduction in serious violence last year, if the measures put in place in 2018/19 to achieve this are maintained, means towns and cities will be safer when we come out of this crisis.”