By Francisco Santos

Knife crime has always been recognised as one of the most pressing issues in modern U.K. life, but just how bad are its effects and what can and is being done to prevent or mitigate them?

The Statistics

In a research briefing published by the House of Commons Library in October of 2023, data presented by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed knife crime in England and Wales over the last decade revealing the previous five years, that is from 2018 to 2023, to be some of the highest regarding the number of recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument.

According to data from the ONS from March 2023 to March 2024 the most common method of homicide was the use of a sharp instrument, including knives, with around 250 recorded incidents which made up 43 percent of the 583 recorded homicides.

This is an increase from the previous year which also relates to the four percent increase of knife crime recorded offences, going from approximately 48.500 to around 50.500.

As shown in the graph above over the last decade there has been a significant increase in knife enabled crime, with recorded offences of assault and robbery increasing by nearly 10.000 cases and threats to kill more than quadrupling since March of 2014.

When comparing the homicide rate to Europe, the 2022 average of 36 European countries was still below that of the two U.K. members, with 10.9 homicides per million population compared to the 12 of England and Wales of that same year.

While these numbers don’t give a clear insight into the difference between European and British knife related homicides it still informs on the rates, therefore showing that compared to its European counterparts England and Wales place slightly above the average, right below France and above North Montenegro.

When compared to the following year-end of march 2023 the recorded offences involving a knife or a sharp object increased by six percent despite homicides in that category decreasing nearly 14 percent.

Source: ONS, Crime in England and Wales: Other related tables, Table F3, 20 July 2023

This is due to a nearly 20 percent increase in robberies, joined with a 4.5 percent increase in threats to kill and a 2.6 increase in rape, all of which counteracted the other decreases in crimes involving knives or sharp objects including attempted murder and assault with injury and intent to cause serious harm.

What is Being Done

Over the years there has been a steady decline in the percentage of people cautioned for possession of knife offences and a significant increase in the amount sentenced to custody.

The research briefing also specified that, in the year end of March 2023, of the 19,086 disposals given for possession of a knife or offensive weapon offences, 18 percent were juveniles with their custody rate being seven percent and their caution rate 31 percent.

Almost proportionally inverse, the caution rate for adults was seven percent and the custody rate was 35 percent, with adults only receiving a community sentence in 17 percent of the cases compared to the 56 percent in juvenile ones.

The briefing also points to an increase in the average custodial sentence length for possession of an article with blade or point, showing that in the mid to late 90s it was between two to three months but in recent years it has been above seven.

In 2022 nearly one fifth of the custodial sentences given out exceeded one year in length which is approximately seven times more than in the early 2000s.

In these numbers we can see a trend of less leniency and more punishment across time, and yet knife crime seems to be at an all time high, so what else can be done to reduce it?

What can be done

While there is a lot already being done to attempt to reduce knife crime, from educational programmes to a harder judicial stance on knife related crimes, the increase of these crimes over time points to other angles needing to be tackled.

One of the main factors at play seems to be the socioeconomic one, which seems to fit in with the increase seen in recent years. Additionally, those struggling with mental health and those who have previously fallen victim to violence are more at risk to engage in knife crime.

In a 2022 article that looked at and reviewed 21 different papers on knife crime they found that targeted campaigns and stricter policing did not seem to reduce knife crime: “This suggests that the approaches used within those strategies, such as stop and search, knife amnesties, media campaigns and curfews do not prevent nor deter knife crime from occurring”.

On the other hand they found that “increasing offenders’ access to tailored support and opportunities regarding housing, education, employment and more had a big impact in reducing weapon carrying, as showcased in the ‘high quality’ study by Williams et al. (2014). Offenders in the intervention group were almost twice as likely to reduce knife carrying than the control group.”.

There is no single solution to preventing or mitigating knife crime, however a significant step in doing it is understanding where it originates and why, and supporting the communities it affects accordingly.

So in order to better prevent knife crime there seems to be a need to shift focus from harsher sentences and punishments we have seen grow over time, to community and individual support to both victims and rehabilitation for offenders.