Youth knife crime now at highest since 2009

KNIFE crime among children has rocketed to an eightyear high.

Courts dealt with 4,439 knife possession cases involving ten to 17-year-olds in the year to September – the highest number since 2009.

That was an increase of 14 per cent on last year in England and Wales when 3,811 youngsters were punished.

Knives and other sharp weapons have killed at least 35 children and young people this year.

The attacks have prompted calls for greater use of police stop-and-search tactics, a crackdown on social media websites promoting violence and a halt to cuts on local policemen.

Officers have warned youths are carrying blades for status and protection.

Official figures published yesterday revealed courts have dealt with 20,498 knife possession cases in the past year – equivalent to one every 25 minutes. The tally is the highest since 2011. Some 43 per cent of adult offenders were jailed, while 12 per cent of ten to 17-year-olds were detained.

Justice minister Dominic Raab said: ‘We are catching and prosecuting more of those who carry a knife or a blade.

‘Those convicted are more likely to go to prison, and for longer than at any point in the last ten years.’