The number of knife crime in England and Wales has risen 6 per cent to the highest on record, official figures show.
Police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument rose to 46,265 for the year to March, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday.
This was 51 per cent higher than when data of this kind was first collected in 2011, and is the highest number on record, the report said.
The number of offences varied across different regions as the data showed a 7 per cent increase in London but a 10 per cent drop in the number of offences in West Yorkshire.
UK's capital saw the highest rate with 179 offences per 100,000 population. This compared with an England and Wales average of 82 offences per 100,000 population.
Anti-knife crime campaigners in Whitehall
“Knife or sharp instrument offences continue to be concentrated in metropolitan areas across England and Wales, with around a third (34 per cent) of all offences recorded by the police in London," said the report.
The number of killings involving a knife or sharp instrument also saw an increase of 2 per cent.
According to the ONS figures the rise in homicides was mainly driven by a 28 per cent rise in offences in London (67 to 86) while the rest of the country saw a 7 per cent decrease in the number of homicides involving a knife or sharp instrument.
Overall homicides rose by 10 per cent, but the report noted that the increase includes a single incident in which 39 migrants were found dead in a lorry in Kent.
If the major homicide in Kent is excluded from the data, homicides increased by just 3 per cent overall.
Police recorded 5.8 million crimes in England and Wales to March, the ONS said.
According to the latest statistics, assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm offences, and robbery, each accounted for 44 per cent of all offences involving a knife or sharp instrument (20,333 and 20,159 respectively).
The ONS report added: “Offences involving knives or sharp instruments have been experiencing a rising trend since the year ending March 2014, although in recent years the rate of increase has slowed.”
The figures do not include Greater Manchester Police, who are unable to provide data due to ongoing problems with a new computer system.
Diana Fawcett, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, said: “It is concerning that, as the country began to enter lockdown, knife crime reached record levels.
“As a charity that supports people affected by knife crime, we know that it is devastating and life-changing for individuals, families and communities.
“Throughout lockdown the impact of knife crime will have continued to be felt, with many continuing to cope with the physical and emotional consequences of attacks during challenging times.”
Commenting on today’s crime figures, Sophie Sanders from ONS Centre for Crime and Justice said: “Overall crime rates were lower in the months leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, than they were in early 2019.
"However, it will not be possible to say whether this would have come to represent a change from the trend in recent years, as the pandemic will have had an impact on the level and types of crime since March.
“In contrast, prior to lockdown, we saw police recorded crime increase. This has been driven, largely, by a rise in high-volume offences including violence without injury, stalking and harassment, and fraud and computer misuse, which, apart from the latter, have been influenced by improvements in recording practices.
“There are also different patterns for specific crimes. For instance, theft from the person increased but burglary decreased.”
Separate figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) on Friday show police recorded crime, excluding fraud, in England and Wales was down 14% in the four weeks to July 5, compared with the same period last year.
The provisional data shows most crime types rising back towards their pre-lockdown levels as restrictions have been eased, the NPCC said.
ONS will be publishing data on the first analysis of crime statistics affected by the coronavirus pandemic next month.