437 knives seized in Black Country and Staffordshire court searches
More than 400 knives have been confiscated from people entering courts in the Black Country and Staffordshire during the past two years, new figures reveal.
The majority of the blades were seized at Wolverhampton's magistrates' and crown courts, the HM Courts & Tribunals Service statistics show.
As well as knifes, security staff seized a handful of replica firearms, dozens of tools, alcoholic drinks and bottles of perfume.
Of the 434 total, security staff in Wolverhampton took 328 knives from people going through the doors of the city's two courts between November 2013 and October this year.
Fifty one were confiscated at Walsall Magistrates' Court , 28 at Stafford Crown Court, 18 at Dudley Magistrates' Court and 12 at Warley Magistrates' Court.
Once seized by security, the knives can be passed on to police and destroyed. Some may be returned to their owners but only once strict checks have been carried out.a
Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP James Morris campaigned for tougher sentencing after the death of 16-year-old Christina Edkins, who was stabbed on a bus to Leasowes High School in Halesowen in 2013
He has welcomed the statistics from the courts and action to confiscate knives. He said: "These figures show that a substantial number of knifes have been taken off our streets through seizures in our local courts.
"It is important that these weapons are seized and destroyed, so that our streets are a safer place."
A HM Courts & Tribunals Service spokesman said it 'has a robust security and safety system to protect all court users and the judiciary and these figures show it is working'.
"The system includes mandatory bag searches, the usage of modern security searching equipment and surveillance cameras, as well as court security officers with the powers to restrain and remove people from the building should there be a need.
"Under section 54 of the Courts Act 2003 a court security officer (CSO) must, if they reasonably believe an article ought to be surrendered, request its surrender.
"If it is not surrendered, it may be seized.
"The grounds upon which surrender or seizure may occur involve any article which may jeopardise the maintenance of order in the court building may put the safety of any person in the court building at risk or may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence," he added.
Knives and bladed items are not returned when people leave the premises. If an owner wants their knife back, they must put the request in writing within 28 days.
Any knives not returned are passed to the police to destroy.
