To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many deaths in England and Wales were as a result of assault with (a) a household axe, (b) a kitchen knife, (c) a Stanley knife and (d) a coal hammer in each year since 1980;(2) how many convictions for grievous bodily harm in England and Wales were as a result of assault with
(a) a household axe, (b) a kitchen knife, (c) a Stanley knife and (d) a coal hammer in each year since 1980.
Information on the exact weapon used is not collected for cases of homicide, although the table gives the number of homicides each year between 1980 and 1988 where the principle weapon was a "sharp instrument" or a "blunt instrument"; the figures for 1989 are not yet available.Information is not collected centrally on the type of weapon used in offences which lead to grievous bodily harm convictions.
| Year | Sharp instrument | Blunt instrument |
| 1980 | 158 | 62 |
| 1981 | 175 | 55 |
| 1982 | 191 | 68 |
| 1983 | 150 | 68 |
| 1984 | 187 | 76 |
| 1985 | 180 | 65 |
| 1986 | 220 | 67 |
| 1987 | 202 | 82 |
| 1988 | 198 | 49 |