Surge in knife crime and murder in England and Wales

“High-harm” violent offences involving weapons continue to rise, official figures have revealed, as knife and gun crime, as well as homicide, increase in England and Wales.

Offences involving knives or sharp instruments went up by 16% to 40,147, according to police-recorded crimes for the year to March published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The total number of homicides – murder and manslaughter – rose 12% by 74 to 701 in the period, when stripping out exceptional incidents with multiple victims such as the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester.

Gun crime rose but at a less pronounced rate than knife crime with a 2% rise to 6,492 offences in the period, the first three months of the year.

Separate statistics released by the Home Office show the number of police officers fell in the last year to 122,404 officers as at 31 March from 123,142 - the lowest number of police officers since comparable records began in 1996.

There was a surge in violent crime in early 2018, particularly involving stabbings in London, raising fears of an epidemic and prompting ministers to release a serious violent crime strategy.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, a separate assessment to police-recorded offences that aims to measure people’s experience of crime, shows that most people do not experience crime. The latest survey showed that two in 10 adults experienced any crime in the period. This has fallen considerably over the long term.

Caroline Youell, analyst at the ONS, said: “Most people don’t experience crime. Today’s figures show a fairly stable picture in England and Wales for most crime types. It is too early to say if this is a change to the long-term declining trend.

“There have been increases in some lower-volume ‘high-harm’ offences such as homicide and knife crime, consistent with rises over the past three years. However, the latest rise in gun crime is much smaller than previously seen.

“We have also seen continued increases in some theft offences such as vehicle-related theft and burglary, while computer viruses have fallen.”

Both the crime survey and police-recorded figures showed increases in vehicle-related theft for the year to March 2018.

There was also evidence of a 6% increase in police-recorded burglaries up to 437,537 offences and a police-recorded rise in robbery, up 30% to 77,103 offences. The rise in robbery may reflect a real increase in the crime, but it also reflects an improvement in recording practices, the ONS added.

In one of her last actions as home secretary, Amber Rudd launched a serious violence strategy to clamp down on violent crime, which has been rising since 2014.

The strategy is to be backed by £40m of Home Office funding and an offensive weapons bill to ban the sale of corrosive liquids to under-18s and introduce tougher restrictions on buying knives online. It will focus on the links between illegal drug markets, particularly for crack cocaine, and violent crime.

The strategy was launched amid controversy over the potential link between dwindling police numbers and the rise in violence.