Rise in convictions for carrying knives

The number of people convicted for carrying a knife in Greater Manchester has risen by two thirds in 10 years.

In 1998, courts across the region convicted 242 people — compared with 394 in 2007, a 62% increase.

West Yorkshire saw the biggest increase from 38 to 190, a 400% rise.

Nationally, convictions also rose by 62%, from 3,805 to 6,169 in the 10 years.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling, who obtained the figures from a parliamentary answer, said: “Knife crime blights our society. The figures are awful for the Government as they show yet again how Labour ministers have failed to get knives off our streets.

“We have to create a real disincentive for people who carry knives, and the fact that the supposed tough sentences just aren’t happening sends out all the wrong messages.

“The Government also needs to stop wrapping up our police in unnecessary paperwork and get more officers back on to the streets.”

Lib-Dem spokesman Chris Huhne said the figures showed the knife crime epidemic sweeping the country.

He added: “The key to stopping knife crime is to increase the likelihood of being caught, through intelligence-led stop and search and hotspot policing.”

Ministers say crime and violent crime has fallen by a third in 10 years, but accepted more needed to be done to rid the streets of knives.

They said the increase in convictions for knife crime reflected the Government’s tough response to violent crime — not a rise in crime itself.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We know that gun, gang and knife crime continues to devastate families, communities and neighbourhoods. That is why we remain fully committed to tackling gang culture, and gun and knife crime, through responsive policing, tough powers and funding for prevention projects.

“According to the British Crime Survey the number of violent incidents has fallen by nearly half (48%) since 1995, representing an estimated 9 million fewer incidents.”

Greater Manchester is one of 12 knife crime hotspots being targeted by Government.