Knife crime offences at 10-year high, new figures show

The number of knife crimes being dealt with by the police and courts are the highest in a decade, official figures show.

There were 22,286 knife and offensive weapon offences formally dealt with by the criminal justice system in England and Wales in the year ending September 2019, according to Ministry of Justice statistics.

This is a 3 per cent rise on the previous year and the highest since September 2009, when it was 26,364.

The figures follow Tuesday's announcement that Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all Whitehall departments to take action on tackling crime.

He told ministers every department should consider itself a criminal justice department as part of a drive to look at the "complex causes of crime" which would involve long-term reforms to improve health, social care, youth services and education.