Almost a third caught with blades had previous convictions
Nearly a third of adult criminals caught carrying a blade in the West Midlands have previously committed a knife crime, new figures show.
Campaigners said the figures showed Britain’s criminal justice system was having “little or no effect” on habitual knife carriers.
The figures from the Ministry of Justice reveal that in the West Midlands Police area there were 676 convictions and cautions for knife possession in the 12 months up to September.
In 206 cases (30 per cent) the offender had committed at least one previous offence of carrying a knife, while in 47 cases (seven per cent) there were three or more past offences.
In 36 per cent of cases repeat offenders were not sent to prison, with 29 dealt with by suspended jail sentences, 12 by community orders and one by a caution. For 31 of the offences the outcome was not specified in the data.
In the Staffordshire Police area 29 per cent of 168 criminals convicted of carrying blade already had a knife crime on their records.
Across England and Wales, 12,458 convictions and cautions were given to adult offenders for knife possession in the 12 months up to September. Out of those, around a third were repeat offenders.
Patrick Green, chief executive of anti-knife charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: “I remain worried about the continuing high levels of repeat offending.
“Despite going before the courts and receiving a conviction, too many offenders simply reappear on our streets still carrying weapons.”
Five years ago, new legislation was introduced requiring judges to impose jail terms on adult knife offenders who had already committed a knife crime, unless it would “make it unjust to do so”.
