Two-thirds of knife crime convictions in the West Midlands are for first-time offenders
Two-thirds of cautions or convictions for knife crime in the West Midlands were handed to first-time offenders last year, new figures show.
Ministry of Justice figures show 650 first-time knife crime offenders in the region went through the criminal justice system in the year ending September 2023.
They accounted for 66 per cent of the total 986 criminals found guilty of knife and offensive weapon offences – down from 68 per cent the year before.
The figures also show 17 per cent of knife crime offenders in England and Wales last year were under the age of 18.
Of the knife crime offenders dealt with by West Midlands Police, almost one in six of them (172) were children.
Overall, 35 per cent of knife crime offenders in the region were locked up immediately, but a quarter of them received a suspended prison sentence which is not enforced unless a further crime is committed during a specified period.
