Knife crime hits an all-time high
KNIFE crime surged by 12% last year to hit a record high of nearly 40,000 incidents. Concerns over serious violence had intensified following a spate of fatal stabbings and shootings – with London in particular hit hard. And Office for National Statistics figures show the murder and manslaughter level has now hit the highest level in a decade. There were 719 homicides in the year to June, up 14% from 630 the previous year. Murders were up 8%. Violent crime in total has rocketed 19%, to almost 1.5million offences. Robbery rose 22% while the number of rapes rose by 21% and all sexual offences by 18%. Overall, forces in England and Wales registered 5.6 million crimes – up 9% and the highest for policerecorded crime since 2005. It follows years of Tory cuts to police and Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said: “These figures are a tragic indictment of this Government’s policies.” Police Federation chair John Apter said: “It didn’t take a crystal ball to predict these shocking increases because they only reflect what we have been telling Government for years – we need more boots on the ground.” Chief Constable Bill Skelly, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “Rising crime is placing greater demand on policing.” Meanwhile, separate Home Office data showed only 8.7% of offences resulted in a charge or summons and 46.6% of probes ended with no suspect identified. Policing Minister Nick Hurd said the Government “is determined to tackle all types of crime”.