Fewer young offenders are being locked up for knife crimes
and live on Freeview channel 276
Anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said a fall across England and Wales is encouraging, following a trend in decreasing child knife crime, but warned against the high percentage of repeat offenders avoiding custody.
Ministry of Justice figures show 160 knife offences were committed by children aged between 10 and 17 in the Greater Manchester Police area last year – up from 136 in 2020.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOf them, 151 were for possessing a knife in a public place and 10 were for threatening behaviour.
An offence can be classified as both possession and threatening, but it is only recorded once in the total number of offences.
The offences led to 14 (10.3 per cent) under-18s being placed in immediate custody.
This was down on 15 the year before and 36 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAcross England and Wales, 179 children aged between 10 and 17 years old were sent to immediate custody last year, meaning 5.8 per cent of offences committed led to a young person being removed from the streets.
This was down on the 288 (eight per cent) remanded in custody in 2020 and dramatically below pre-pandemic levels – 533 (11.5 per cent) were sent to prison in 2019.
The fall in the percentage of young offenders going to prison is alongside a national fall in the total number of total offences.
In 2021, 3,519 knife offences were committed by under-18s, down from 3,602 the year prior and well below pre-pandemic levels – in 2019, there were 4,618 offences.