Big rise in knife crime despite tougher penalties

Levels of knife crime have soared over the past year, figures published today show, prompting claims that the Government has failed to tackle the menace of violent crime.

The number of muggers using knives leapt from 24,290 to 42,020 in 2005-06, an increase of 73 per cent. And the total of other robberies in which knives were brandished jumped by 59 per cent, from 25,500 to 40,430.

A criminal justice thinktank, which released the figures, calculates that as many as 57,900 young people could have been stabbed over the past year. The research said a "significant minority" of schoolchildren and young adults carried knives and "this problem may be growing".

It stressed that knife crime had fallen since the mid-1990s, but had experienced an unexpected upturn in the past 12 months.

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCSJ) warns that tougher penalties for carrying knives and the recent weapons amnesty may be futile in combating violence on the streets.

Ministers are accused of lacking a coherent strategy for dealing with knife attacks, resorting instead to eye-catching initiatives that fail to tackle the underlying causes of crime.

The stinging report follows the recent murders in London of the schoolboy Kiyan Prince and the off-duty special constable Nisha Patel-Nasri.

The Home Office announced tougher penalties for carrying knives and more than 100,000 blades were handed in to police stations in a summer knife amnesty. But the CCSJ protests that there has been little research on why young people carry weapons, and no evidence that recent initiatives will have any impact on crime rates.

Chris Eades, the author of the report, said: "The Government is constructing responses without any credible evidence that they will be successful. Knife amnesties will have a negligible impact since knives will be available as long as there is unsliced bread."

He said the Home Office should investigate the "root causes" of the crime - "the inclination or desire to resort to violence".

The CCSJ warns that carrying a knife is "not unusual", particularly among young men, but little more is known about its frequency. It says the level of violence involving knives has fallen over the past decade, with a rise in the past year. It says that what little research exists suggests that people living in poor areas and members of ethnic minority communities are more likely to become victims of knife crime.

David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "This is an indictment of the Government's failure to tackle the growing problem of knife crime. It completely undermines Labour's claims to be tough on crime."

A Home Office spokesman said: "Tackling knife crime is a government priority. That's why we pursue a coherent strategy with three strands: prevention, education and enforcement. Carrying a knife is illegal and will not be tolerated.

"People may think carrying a knife makes them feel safe, but in fact it increases the risk of having it turned on them." The Government has said it will increase the maximum penalty for carrying a knife in public without good reason from two to four years. It is also increasing the minimum age at which knives can be bought from 16 to 18, and is giving headteachers the power to search pupils for dangerous weapons.

Richard Garside, acting director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said: "This report points out just how much we still don't know about knife-related offences, their causes and solutions.

"Knives are but one means by which people assault and injure one another. We need to address why individuals get into violent confrontations with each other, and not simply fixate on the weapons they use."