Forty percent of all murders involve a knife

Data has shown four in 10 of all murders now involve a blade, meaning knife-related homicide has reached its highest level since records began more than 70 years ago.

 

There were 696 homicides in the year ending March 2022, an increase of almost a quarter on the previous year as the country came out of lockdown. 

 

Of those, 282 involved a knife or a sharp instrument - up almost a fifth on the previous year, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed. It represents the highest annual total since the Homicide Index began in 1946 and tops the previous high of 281 in 2018.  

 

The number of male victims of knife crime rose from 184 to 218, with the sharpest increase among 16 to 17-year-olds. The figures also showed that 69 teenagers were murdered in the year ending March 2022 and that 74 per cent of them were killed with a knife. After knife attacks, the second most common method of killing was by beating, with 116 people being kicked or punched to death.

 

Firearms murders are decreasing, 28 people were shot dead in the same time period - seven fewer than the previous year. This is 30 per cent down compared with a decade ago.

 

The large rise in the number of homicides in the year ending March 2022 compared with the previous 12 months was attributed to the lifting of nationwide lockdown restrictions which meant there was more social contact. Recent statistics showed that there had been a 5 per cent increase in the number of knife-related offences dealt with by the criminal justice system, but that the overall figure was still down on pre-pandemic levels.

 

In 2021-22 the proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife-related offence decreased to 30 per cent from 38 per cent in 2018.

 

Chief executive of the charity Victim Support, Diana Fawcett, said that murders and manslaughters "tear families apart and can traumatise entire communities", and urged action on crimes involving young people.

 

She added: "While overall homicide rates are similar to before the pandemic, this huge spike in the number of people being killed with a knife is very worrying – especially as certain groups, such as teenage boys, are being disproportionately affected. The number of boys aged 16 and 17 killed with a knife has more than doubled – a heart-breaking figure that suggests we need to get a better grip on youth violence."

 

Chief executive of the anti-knife crime campaign group the Ben Kinsella Trust, Patrick Green, said the "pervasiveness" of knife crime has been underestimated for too long. He said: "We need a more robust public health response to tackle this problem or else we will continue to lose precious young lives to this heinous crime."

 

 

The Johnson Partnership

Nottingham Solicitors