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Offensive Weapons

Volume 487: debated on Thursday 29 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) warnings were given, (b) cautions were issued and (c) prosecutions were brought for the illegal possession of knives in each year for which figures are available, broken down by police force area. (248011)

Data collected centrally on the number of offenders cautioned and the number of defendants proceeded against for the possession of an article with a blade or point, from 1997 to 2007 (the latest available), broken down by police force area, are given in the following tables. Offences involving knives specifically are not separately identifiable from this data.

The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

Information on the number of warnings given to offenders by the police is not collected centrally.

Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for the possession of an article with a blade or point1, England and Wales, 1997 to 2007, broken down by police force area2, 3

Force

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Avon and Somerset

61

94

135

101

147

190

187

167

155

214

200

Bedfordshire

29

46

33

51

39

46

73

96

99

74

81

Cambridgeshire

33

43

35

19

34

56

43

75

72

83

65

Cheshire

68

73

65

64

47

64

60

57

87

101

121

City of London

30

13

10

14

12

20

25

28

21

16

10

Cleveland

30

42

38

24

53

103

107

103

85

90

109

Cumbria

36

44

47

36

36

42

56

56

59

50

51

Derbyshire

57

37

41

45

61

92

109

123

100

94

123

Devon and Cornwall

72

107

99

105

90

145

161

161

167

138

171

Dorset

23

47

37

45

48

73

63

75

76

81

78

Durham

27

34

41

55

41

87

70

80

101

96

107

Essex

101

116

137

136

136

141

222

264

273

217

182

Gloucestershire

23

43

24

21

35

39

41

46

47

48

48

Greater Manchester

250

276

240

260

344

357

362

383

391

441

436

Hampshire

132

130

113

132

142

141

169

221

182

194

198

Hertfordshire

36

37

31

29

31

59

103

103

127

105

78

Humberside

60

64

80

65

61

81

79

121

123

135

170

Kent

41

80

106

98

92

45

40

10

9

3

2

Lancashire

136

165

122

109

131

127

159

188

182

169

176

Leicestershire

63

88

74

65

83

96

107

110

105

140

135

Lincolnshire

27

57

70

51

58

66

89

74

71

85

54

Merseyside

234

204

148

166

155

192

208

245

240

253

250

Metropolitan Police

1,705

1,721

1,454

1,572

2,128

2,459

2,179

2,104

2,113

2,099

1,810

Norfolk

31

54

52

38

59

91

82

88

91

80

96

North Yorkshire

47

39

52

54

64

65

63

89

80

70

62

Northamptonshire

15

13

22

11

6

2

2

2

6

1

3

Northumbria

134

125

151

161

193

226

243

232

241

246

318

Nottinghamshire

55

67

59

59

75

90

123

144

151

176

184

South Yorkshire

68

72

87

91

148

201

209

163

197

169

179

Staffordshire4

36

57

52

40

45

94

78

91

76

111

108

Suffolk

37

24

32

34

36

74

72

79

84

123

97

Surrey

21

19

23

34

41

31

45

50

38

47

65

Sussex

90

82

112

110

136

153

154

135

139

165

165

Thames Valley

91

107

103

82

101

127

116

159

192

227

165

Warwickshire

24

33

31

19

21

29

21

32

30

38

32

West Mercia

32

51

37

46

52

54

67

104

112

124

117

West Midlands

244

227

197

280

417

450

449

465

386

469

485

West Yorkshire

53

65

85

82

116

157

139

201

214

214

227

Wiltshire

26

38

38

32

47

46

49

63

66

82

53

Dyfed-Powys

27

32

38

40

48

53

47

51

54

39

51

Gwent

35

25

25

28

25

36

35

61

45

74

77

North Wales

56

67

64

51

63

96

70

78

85

131

101

South Wales

93

130

126

110

126

167

152

175

147

187

164

England and Wales

4,489

4,888

4,566

4,625

5,823

6,963

6,928

7,352

7,319

7,699

7,404

1 Includes the following offences and statutes:

Having an article with blade or point in public place. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3).

Having an article with blade or point on school premises. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)).

2 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

3 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.

4 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.

Source:

Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Number of offenders cautioned1 for the possession of an article with a blade or point2, England and Wales, 1997 to 2007, broken down by police force area3, 4

Force

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Avon and Somerset

3

12

12

17

41

39

88

79

157

147

Bedfordshire

4

5

6

3

4

16

22

19

123

131

82

Cambridgeshire

3

4

10

12

9

7

17

40

36

43

Cheshire

10

16

11

12

20

11

18

18

19

19

14

City of London

11

6

7

7

9

6

1

9

22

13

11

Cleveland

2

2

2

1

4

4

14

15

19

32

43

Cumbria

7

4

10

1

17

12

10

10

12

15

20

Derbyshire

9

4

7

7

8

5

6

10

10

26

42

Devon and Cornwall

67

52

56

52

50

65

44

95

100

82

81

Dorset

11

1

2

7

9

6

15

36

Durham

7

21

18

19

6

1

9

11

21

44

50

Essex

39

53

54

42

51

45

57

27

32

54

17

Gloucestershire

6

12

16

12

9

11

17

20

26

29

Greater Manchester

66

99

66

88

115

114

123

127

150

166

168

Hampshire

34

45

63

35

26

59

52

81

85

77

75

Hertfordshire

4

10

5

9

16

20

21

33

32

42

64

Humberside

10

15

17

9

10

9

3

10

44

50

52

Kent

9

32

40

44

34

33

45

62

60

64

65

Lancashire

31

44

24

12

38

21

33

67

84

91

74

Leicestershire

7

8

8

7

6

4

14

20

34

56

46

Lincolnshire

6

12

7

4

11

14

18

23

32

41

49

Merseyside

103

67

56

46

40

50

48

99

91

62

113

Metropolitan Police

939

1,024

773

778

497

492

388

493

569

710

750

Norfolk

12

36

27

31

38

26

22

35

47

46

North Yorkshire

7

9

12

17

16

18

18

20

25

24

20

Northamptonshire

11

8

4

11

23

46

28

42

36

50

59

Northumbria

50

64

48

51

70

82

92

69

81

119

93

Nottinghamshire

8

3

21

35

34

45

45

65

108

91

South Yorkshire

4

2

4

15

18

18

17

38

93

123

131

Staffordshire

3

1

1

1

1

3

2

3

6

19

Suffolk

9

11

9

8

15

14

12

16

18

26

31

Surrey

6

8

7

7

19

18

15

29

26

34

47

Sussex

34

63

55

80

110

115

136

282

478

248

218

Thames Valley

20

11

26

37

24

35

38

59

94

115

117

Warwickshire

8

8

7

7

5

7

15

18

28

13

West Mercia

28

26

28

39

25

38

48

61

50

76

55

West Midlands

9

104

77

95

105

132

95

130

178

229

199

West Yorkshire

8

12

20

20

24

22

33

72

68

72

Wiltshire

5

12

5

11

6

7

7

18

17

17

15

Dyfed-Powys

17

25

30

32

36

60

72

47

70

73

53

Gwent

7

1

2

2

1

9

9

2

19

31

36

North Wales

18

34

22

27

36

45

45

59

67

50

47

South Wales

31

25

15

36

51

24

21

25

25

22

27

England and Wales

1,629

1,976

1,663

1,758

1,652

1,805

1,746

2,374

3,154

3,503

3,460

1 From 1 June 2000, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals.

2 Includes the following offences and statutes:

Having an article with blade or point in public place. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3).

Having an article with blade or point on school premises. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)).

3 The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence.

4 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 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.

Source:

Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform.