Knife crime jailings reach a record high

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott says there is little chance of tackling rising knife crime until the Government deals with a crisis created by cuts to policing, schools and health services.

Ministry of Justice statistics show that criminals were cautioned or sentenced for knife and offensive weapons offences in the city-region on 1,128 occasions in the year to September 2019: the most since 2010.

The recent trend was mirrored across England and Wales, where the figure for such offences hit 22,300, which is the highest since records began in 2009.

The number includes possession of, or threatening with, a knife or other offensive weapon.

Ms Abbott said the rising level of knife crime “undermines all the Tory claims on law and order”.

She added: “Unfortunately, until they tackle the crises they created through cuts to policing, schools, to mental health and drug services, there can be little confidence of any major improvement.”

In Greater Manchester, under-18s accounted for 20 per cent of sentences. Nationally they made up 21 per cent.

Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said the Government urgently needs to find long-term solutions to turn vulnerable children away from crime before they reach for a knife.

“Increasing the number and length of sentences can only be part of the solution, as this may not deter young people who are suffering a poverty of hope,” he added.

“Often they have no qualifications, no job prospects, and no role models, making them vulnerable to criminal gangs who force them to deliver drugs and carry knives to protect themselves.”