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Almost half of deadly assaults in England and Wales concerned a knife or blade, figures present, because the proportion of killings linked to sharp weapons soars to an 11-year excessive.
Of 570 homicides recorded within the yr ending March 2024, 262 folks had been killed utilizing a knife or different sharp instrument, based on new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
This equates to 46 per cent of killings, the very best proportion for 11 years, up from 42 per cent the earlier yr and simply 31 per cent within the yr ending March 2017.
The mostly used sharp instrument was a kitchen knife, which was utilized in 109 deadly assaults, up eight per cent on the earlier yr.
The figures come after dwelling secretary Yvette Cooper revealed she is contemplating calls from actor and campaigner Idris Elba to ban kitchen knives with a pointy level in a bid to halve knife crime in a decade. Instead, knives would have a rounded finish.
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Actor Idris Elba is campaigning to ban kitchen knives with a pointy level (BBC / 22 Summers)
Hackney-born Mr Elba, who has met with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and the King in his efforts to deal with knife crime, prompt making modifications to kitchen knives might be one approach to cut back stabbings.
“Not all kitchen knives need to have a point on them, that sounds like a crazy thing to say,” he 52-year-old Luther star advised BBC Radio 4. “But you can still cut your food without the point on your knife, which is an innovative way to look at it.”
In response, Ms Cooper stated: “We will look at any issue that might make children safer.”
“This is an issue that Idris has raised,” she advised The Times Crime and Justice Commission this week. “It’s also an issue [raised by] surgeons who have dealt with knife crime. Victims have also raised this as well in the past. So that’s why we are looking at it.”
Labour has pledged to halve knife crime in a decade amid fears knife assaults are on the rise, with current tragedies together with the stabbing of 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose at a faculty in Sheffield this week.
Although knife crime elevated by 4.4 per cent within the yr to March 2024, with 50,500 offences linked to a blade recorded, they haven’t exceeded pre-pandemic highs and stay 2.8 per cent decrease than within the yr ending March 2020.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has stated the Government will think about ‘any issue that might make children safer’ (PA Media)
The ONS statistics printed on Thursday additionally confirmed youngsters are more likely to be killed by a knife or sharp instrument than different age teams.
There had been 64 homicides the place the sufferer was aged 13 to 19 years. In eight in ten of those, the strategy of killing was with a knife or sharp instrument in comparison with the typical of 46 per cent throughout all age teams.
Overall, homicides had been down three per cent in yr to March 2024, with 570 killings down from 585 the earlier yr.
The variety of male victims was just like the earlier yr, with 414 killed, whereas the numbers of girls killed fell by 10 per cent from 173 to 156.
More follows on this breaking information story…
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