Knife, Offensive Weapon Crimes In UK Rise To Highest Level Since 2010 - Justice Ministry

The UK Criminal Justice System (CJS) dealt with 21,381 knife and offensive weapon offenses during the first 10 months of 2018, the highest number since the year ending September 2010, when the figure was 21,851, the UK Justice Ministry said in a report on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) The UK Criminal Justice System (CJS) dealt with 21,381 knife and offensive weapon offenses during the first 10 months of 2018, the highest number since the year ending September 2010, when the figure was 21,851, the UK Justice Ministry said in a report on Thursday.

"In the year ending September 2018 21,381 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS. This is the highest number of offences dealt with since the year ending September 2010 (21,851)," the report said.

The ministry added citing the Office of National Statistics (ONS) that in the year ending March 2012, as many as 18,900 knife and offensive weapon offenses were recorded compared with 32,986 recorded in the year ending June 2018.

"Custodial sentences are now at the highest level they have been. In the year ending September 2018 over a third (36% or 7,789 offences) of all knife and offensive weapon offences resulted in immediate custody compared with just 5,938 offences or 23% in the year ending September 2009," the report read.

UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in November that the UK police needed more funding to cope with knife crime that had spiked significantly in recent years. The news comes in the wake of five fatal knife attacks in London that took place a week before the statement.