The following table gives the number of people sentenced for offences of carrying a knife from 2004 to 2006. These offences are having an article with a blade or point in a public place, having an article with a blade or point on school premises, possession of offensive weapons without lawful authority or reasonable excuse and possession of offensive weapons without lawful authority or reasonable excuse on school premises.
Figures for 2007 will be available from autumn 2008.
In such instances as a robbery or violent assault where an individual has used a knife or other offensive weapon then they will be sentenced for the more serious transgression, and the figures do not isolate the specific use of a knife in such circumstances.
Offence Statute Year Total persons sentenced Non-custodial sentence Custodial sentence Having an article with a blade or point in a public place Criminal Justice Act 1988 sec 139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 3 2004 179 132 47 2005 150 93 57 2006 149 108 41 Having an article with a blade or point on school premises Criminal Justice Act 1988 sec 139A(1) and (5)(1) as added by the Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 4(1) 2004 1 1 — 2005 2 2 — 2006 2 1 1 Possession of offensive weapons3 without lawful authority or reasonable excuse Prevention of Crime Act 1953 sec 1 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 2(1) 2004 123 94 29 2005 97 77 20 2006 105 86 19 Possession of offensive weapons3 without lawful authority or reasonable excuse on school premises Criminal Justice Act 1988 Sec 139A(2) and (5)(b) as added by the Offensive Weapons Act 1996 sec 4(1) 2004 2 2 — 2005 1 1 — 2006 1 1 — 1 Principal offence basis. 2 Magistrates courts in Essex and the Crown court if committed by magistrates in Essex. 3 Will include knives, but information collected centrally does not provide a distinction between them and other offensive weapons. Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Source: RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice