Knife and Offensive Weapon Sentencing Statistics: July to September 2021
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Updated Feb 17, 2022+ more versions
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EmailClick to copy linkLink copiedCiteMinistry of Justice (2022). Knife and Offensive Weapon Sentencing Statistics: July to September 2021 [Dataset]. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/knife-and-offensive-weapon-sentencing-statistics-july-to-september-2021Dataset updatedFeb 17, 2022AuthorsMinistry of JusticeDescriptionContents
2. Knife and offensive weapon offences overview
4. Offending History and Other Offences
5. Sentencing under Sentencing under section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020
7. Future publications and contact details for any queries or feedback
This publication presents key statistics describing the trends in the number of offenders receiving cautions and convictions for
-
possession of an article with a blade or point
-
possession of an offensive weapon, or
-
threatening with either type of weapon
in England and Wales. Please note that cases still awaiting final decisions are no longer accounted for using estimation methodology. These are generally cases in the latest periods and are now counted as ‘other’ disposals until final decisions are made unless separately specified.
Accompanying files
As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:
-
ODS format tables containing data on knife or offensive weapon offences up to September 2021
-
An interactive table tool to look at previous offences involving possession of a blade, point or offensive weapon. The tool provides further breakdowns by gender, police identified ethnicity and prosecuting police force area. The data used in the tool is also included as a separate csv file.
-
An interactive https://moj-analytical-services.github.io/knife_possession_sankey/index.html" class="govuk-link">Sankey diagram looking at outcomes for offenders sentenced for these offences by whether or not they have a previous conviction or caution for possession of a blade, point or offensive weapon; which includes breakdowns by gender, age group and offence type.
The period covered by this publication includes the sixth quarter (July to September 2021) of data since restrictions were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Comparisons between the latest year and 2020 will be affected by the pandemic, and quarterly comparisons and comparisons to 2019 may be used to highlight impacts where useful.
Main points
Point Change Commentary The number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) has increased after a dip in year ending September 2020. Increase In year ending September 2021 20,202 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS. This is an increase of 10% since year ending September 2020, which includes the dip in Q2 2020 after COVID restrictions were imposed but is 10% lower than in year ending September 2019 before the start of the pandemic and similar to the level seen in year ending September 2017. The proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence decreased to 28% in year ending September 2021. Decrease This had been stable at around 36%-38% between year ending September 2017 and year ending September 2020 but then dropped in year ending September 2021. In this period there was a corresponding increase in the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence or, to a lesser extent, a community sentence. For 72% of offenders this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence. Decrease The proportion of offenders for whom this is their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence has been decreasing over the last decade, from 77% in year ending September 2011 to 72% in year ending September 2021 but has been roughly stable since year ending September 2017. The average custodial sentence received by offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 was 7.5 months in year ending September 2021 Decrease</td 
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FacebookTwitterEmailContents
2. Knife and offensive weapon offences overview
4. Offending History and Other Offences
5. Sentencing under Sentencing under section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020
7. Future publications and contact details for any queries or feedback
This publication presents key statistics describing the trends in the number of offenders receiving cautions and convictions for
-
possession of an article with a blade or point
-
possession of an offensive weapon, or
-
threatening with either type of weapon
in England and Wales. Please note that cases still awaiting final decisions are no longer accounted for using estimation methodology. These are generally cases in the latest periods and are now counted as ‘other’ disposals until final decisions are made unless separately specified.
Accompanying files
As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:
-
ODS format tables containing data on knife or offensive weapon offences up to September 2021
-
An interactive table tool to look at previous offences involving possession of a blade, point or offensive weapon. The tool provides further breakdowns by gender, police identified ethnicity and prosecuting police force area. The data used in the tool is also included as a separate csv file.
-
An interactive https://moj-analytical-services.github.io/knife_possession_sankey/index.html" class="govuk-link">Sankey diagram looking at outcomes for offenders sentenced for these offences by whether or not they have a previous conviction or caution for possession of a blade, point or offensive weapon; which includes breakdowns by gender, age group and offence type.
The period covered by this publication includes the sixth quarter (July to September 2021) of data since restrictions were put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Comparisons between the latest year and 2020 will be affected by the pandemic, and quarterly comparisons and comparisons to 2019 may be used to highlight impacts where useful.
Main points
| Point | Change | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| The number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) has increased after a dip in year ending September 2020. | Increase | In year ending September 2021 20,202 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS. This is an increase of 10% since year ending September 2020, which includes the dip in Q2 2020 after COVID restrictions were imposed but is 10% lower than in year ending September 2019 before the start of the pandemic and similar to the level seen in year ending September 2017. |
| The proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence decreased to 28% in year ending September 2021. | Decrease | This had been stable at around 36%-38% between year ending September 2017 and year ending September 2020 but then dropped in year ending September 2021. In this period there was a corresponding increase in the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence or, to a lesser extent, a community sentence. |
| For 72% of offenders this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence. | Decrease | The proportion of offenders for whom this is their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence has been decreasing over the last decade, from 77% in year ending September 2011 to 72% in year ending September 2021 but has been roughly stable since year ending September 2017. |
| The average custodial sentence received by offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 was 7.5 months in year ending September 2021 | Decrease</td |