Hundreds of knife crimes committed by children across region last year

Data from the Ministry of Justice showed 276 offences were recorded by West Midlands Police whilst a further 32 were recorded by Staffordshire Police.

The figure, a total of 308, was lower than the 358 recorded in 2020 – although that data may have been impacted by the impact of Covid-19 and restrictions.

Fewer youngsters were also locked up with 22, under-18s being placed in immediate custody and none in Staffordshire, down from 31 and three respectively.

Anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said the fall across England and Wales was encouraging but warned against repeat offenders avoiding custody.

In the West Midlands, a total of 271 recorded offences were for possessing a knife in a public place and six for threatening behaviour – with 29 and four in Staffordshire.

An offence can be classified as both possession and threatening, but it is only recorded once in the total number of offences.

Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, said that it is good to see knife offences falling, but expressed caution, given the decrease in all crime during the pandemic due to successive lockdowns.

Mr Green also raised the problem of repeat offenders, highlighting the low proportion sent to prison.

In West Midlands, 44 of the 276 knife offences in the region were committed by children who have had at least one previous offence – 34 avoided immediate custody. The other 232 were committed by first-time offenders.

In Staffordshire, four of the 32 knife offences in Staffordshire were committed by children who have had at least one previous offence – all of them avoided immediate custody. The other 28 were committed by first-time offenders.

Mr Green said: "Many victims will be horrified to see that habitual knife carriers are more likely to be returned to the streets than to end up in prison.

"We cannot expect to make any meaningful headway in tackling knife crime until the justice system takes stronger action to put serial offenders behind bars."

A Government spokesperson said: "Those caught carrying a knife are more likely to be sent to jail, and for longer, than they were a decade ago.

"The 20,000 extra police officers we are recruiting will help to bring more criminals before the courts and our Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act will ensure the most serious and violent offenders spend longer behind bars."

Across England and Wales, 179 children aged between 10 and 17 years old were sent to immediate custody last year, meaning almost six per cent of offences committed led to a young person being removed from the streets.

This was down on the 288 remanded in custody in 2020 and dramatically below pre-pandemic levels – 533 were sent to prison in 2019.