Three knife crimes a day on UK railways, figures show
POLICE officers are having to deal with three knife offences a day on Britain’s railways, figures show.
Knife crime on the rail network has more than tripled in the past three years, with British Transport Police (BTP) recording 1,059 offences involving a knife or bladed article last year, up from 338 in 2015. There were 417 in 2016 and 632 in 2017.
The number of people caught carrying a knife rose steeply, as possession of an offensive weapon increased more than five times from 24 incidences in 2015 to 136 in 2018. Figures for having an article with a blade or point in public rose from 103 in 2015 to 387 last year.
Det Ch Supt Paul Furnell, of BTP, insisted the chance of being a victim of crime on the rail network was “rare”, with 19 crimes recorded for every million passenger journeys in the year to March 2018.
Mr Furnell said: “Tackling any rise in crime and removing weapons from the rail network remains our top priority and nationwide, officers have been working tirelessly in the battle against knife crime.”
BTP had conducted a number of intelligence-led operations, focused on cutting knife crime, and had been “highly successful in knives being seized and surrendered”, he said.
“Likewise, these targeted operations act as a deterrent... These types of offences will be rigorously tackled and our overriding interest is protecting people who use the rail network.”
A range of offences involving a knife were recorded by the force, including violence against the person, sexual offences, robbery, theft and drug crime.
Violence against the person involving a knife, which includes crimes such as murder, GBH and possession of a bladed weapon, showed a stark rise, from 180 offences in 2015 to 695 last year. Nigel Goodband, the chairman of the BTP Federation, said: “It comes as no surprise that in a time of brutal cuts to police funding, crime is rising.
“This increase on the railways reflects the worrying rise in knife crime in communities across the UK. I know the proactive approach taken by our colleagues has an impact in identifying offences but it’s not the full story.
“Policing is being hampered by the Government’s desire to cut spending to the bone. Communities are being harmed... Ministers have got to come down from their ivory towers and see what’s happening on the streets.”
Earlier this month, The Daily Telegraph revealed how violence on the rail network had soared by 75 per cent over the past five years with experts claiming that a lack of ticket barriers at stations was helping to fuel lawlessness on trains.
Oliver Lewis, from the Bring Back British Rail campaign group, said the new figures “underlie the importance of having visible staff on trains and at stations, to ensure the personal safety of the travelling public”.
Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “These alarming figures show the utter failure of Tory ministers to protect people from crimes involving offensive weapons, especially knives.”