According to official statistics, published by UK Parliament, the number of knife crime offences in England and Wales has increased by almost five per cent.
The recent data was obtained by the Greater Manchester Police Force and excludes the knife crime rate in Devon and Cornwall from 2019 to 2020.
From 2022 to 2023, there were roughly 50,000 offences that involved a sharp instrument as a weapon. The new data showed a 4.7 per cent increase compared to the 12 months between 2021 to 2022.
While the results found the knife crime rate to be on the up, the new statistics still showed a seven per cent decrease compared to the number of offences committed from 2019 to 2020.
In 2019 and 2020, the number of offences that involved a knife or sharp object measured at some 54,300.
The Greater Manchester Police Force’s investigation into knife crime found that the main offences that involved a sharp instrument recorded in 2022 and 2023 were ‘assault with injury and intent to cause serious harm’ and ‘robbery’.
The research noted that ‘assault with injury and intent to cause serious harm’ represented 48.4 per cent of cases. The number of theft offences that used a knife or sharp instrument, represented 41.5 per cent of all scenarios.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour Leader Keir Starmer have since come head-to-head in a debate that discussed the current knife crime rate in London.
A recent investigation, that studied the capital city specifically, found that the number of knife crime cases in London has soared by more than 20 per cent.
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published on Wednesday, said between September 2022 and September 2023, there were a staggering 14,400 knife crimes recorded by police officers in the capital.
The total number of offences showed a 2,531 increase since the total figure in London for the same 12 months in 2021.
A huge 8,343 cases were robberies at knifepoint and a devastating 74 of the offences were fatal stabbings, according to the ONS statistics.
The results also showed that knives, or sharp instruments, were used in 214 sexual assault or rape cases.
The Labour Party responded to the dramatic incline by pointing the finger at the Conservative government for delaying an investigation and crackdown on zombie knives and machetes.
A zombie knife is a bladed weapon that is seen in films that feature zombies. While each blade differs in size, zombie knives are known for having serrated edges and being extremely dangerous.
This news comes after Home Secretary James Cleverly announced a new legislation that was introduced to parliament this week.
The legislation sets out to strengthen previous laws that ban zombie knives and machetes to keep the country safer.
According to Cleverly, the reformed bill will give the police the right to seize the blades from a suspect’s home, in addition to an adapted “surrender and compensation” policy.
The new “surrender and compensation” scheme sets out to keep weapons off of the UK’s streets, as well as putting new financial support towards programmes that focus on reducing violence.
Despite the new bill, Labour continued to criticise the government for leaving loopholes in the previous legislation – which only criminalised those who show the intent of using the zombie weapon, instead of those who have the knife in their possession and those who attempt to obtain a zombie knife.
The left-wing Labour Party also urged the government to implement stricter legislation that would see all Ninja swords and other bladed weapons seized.
In a bid to win the next general election, which is predicted to take place before January next year, Labour also revealed its own plans to ensure that every youth who is caught with a bladed weapon is met with an “action plan” that implements curfews, ankle monitors, behavioural contracts and support with further education.
