Data from the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform showing the number of persons found guilty for offences related to the illegal sale and marketing of knives, and to the possession of knives in a public place without good reason in the areas of (a) South Tyneside, (b) the North East government office region and England and Wales for the years requested are provided in the table.
Data for the Jarrow constituency are not available as data broken down to constituency level are not collected centrally.
Information for 2006 will be available in the autumn.
Area/region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 South Tyneside magistrates court 6 11 14 6 21 23 12 22 36 North East local government office region 134 162 180 185 230 316 317 360 376 England and Wales4 3,363 3,808 3,543 3,531 4,326 5,306 5,346 5,827 6,025 1 These data are provided on the principal offence basis 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces and courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 Includes data for offences related to the illegal possession, sale and marketing of knives. 4 Data excludes figures for West Mercia police force area for the offence of possession of a knife or bladed article on school premises, due to a reporting error for this offence at the courts in that area.
Data on the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform showing the number of people found guilty at all courts for the offence of carrying a knife in a public place in (a) Suffolk, (b) Bedfordshire, (c) Cambridgeshire, (d) Essex, (e) Hertfordshire, and (f) Norfolk police force area 1997-2005 can be viewed in the following table.
Force 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Bedfordshire 24 36 23 40 32 40 57 68 78 Cambridgeshire 24 35 31 15 27 46 34 62 57 Essex 85 97 96 100 99 103 146 201 176 Hertfordshire 31 29 28 27 25 53 83 84 92 Norfolk 29 50 46 36 41 59 69 70 69 Suffolk 31 22 26 30 31 61 52 68 69 Total 224 269 250 248 255 362 441 553 541 1 These data are on the principal offence basis. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Includes the following: 3 Statute: Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 s.3. Offence description: Having an article with blade or point in public place. 4 Statute: Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 s.4(1). Offence description: Having an article with blade or point on school premises.