Information showing the number of persons found guilty at all courts for having an article with a blade or point in a public place or on school premises, in England and Wales, broken down by police force area for 1998 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table. Data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
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.
Police force area 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Avon and Somerset 69 113 87 105 144 152 146 128 168 163 Bedfordshire 36 23 40 32 40 57 68 78 61 62 Cambridgeshire 35 31 15 27 46 34 62 57 67 54 Cheshire 63 52 51 36 54 54 48 82 84 108 City of London 8 4 8 9 17 19 20 18 11 9 Cleveland 31 31 21 42 69 70 81 71 76 90 Cumbria 27 37 27 28 37 45 46 50 41 46 Derbyshire 31 36 40 53 68 82 100 79 77 99 Devon and Cornwall 78 75 70 71 110 129 126 143 120 138 Dorset 41 32 32 32 55 49 59 61 67 63 Durham 30 35 43 35 76 64 68 89 91 92 Essex 97 96 100 99 103 146 201 176 175 160 Gloucestershire 34 18 17 24 26 32 42 39 39 41 Greater Manchester 242 207 222 281 298 304 344 349 393 394 Hampshire 111 93 106 114 113 153 177 162 161 169 Hertfordshire 29 28 27 25 53 83 84 92 84 68 Humberside 45 65 55 46 69 65 106 115 125 147 Kent 73 84 77 76 33 35 13 12 6 5 Lancashire 120 97 87 106 98 136 161 150 144 151 Leicestershire 69 62 54 65 76 91 98 92 113 118 Lincolnshire 40 54 46 41 50 71 65 53 69 47 Merseyside 169 131 124 121 160 165 199 198 218 215 Metropolitan Police 1,327 1,083 1,164 1,507 1,871 1,687 1,615 1,698 1,691 1,459 Norfolk 50 46 36 41 59 69 70 69 62 78 North Yorkshire 34 45 33 45 52 50 69 66 57 52 Northamptonshire 11 14 8 3 2 2 3 6 1 4 Northumbria 101 114 121 153 171 183 211 216 217 259 Nottinghamshire 41 45 47 56 68 85 115 117 144 152 South Yorkshire 58 63 66 114 146 147 117 169 150 138 Staffordshire3 39 42 — 34 68 63 71 60 92 86 Suffolk 22 26 30 31 61 52 68 69 106 89 Surrey 13 12 25 32 27 37 40 35 37 42 Sussex 66 92 84 100 127 123 114 121 138 140 Thames Valley 79 75 54 77 85 76 117 145 178 139 Warwickshire 30 24 19 18 26 18 27 23 30 32 West Mercia 38 28 33 45 41 62 82 99 100 100 West Midlands 151 137 204 318 343 327 357 319 383 392 West Yorkshire 38 56 57 87 103 108 172 168 172 190 Wiltshire 35 32 28 36 37 40 50 53 70 48 Dyfed-Powys 23 29 27 31 35 36 39 45 29 35 Gwent 18 20 21 20 33 23 48 36 56 66 North Wales 55 60 42 51 74 61 67 77 113 89 South Wales 98 101 83 94 114 111 124 120 153 140 Total 3,805 3,548 3,531 4,361 5,338 5,396 5,890 6,005 6,369 6,169 1 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. 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. 3 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