Two-thirds of South Yorkshire blade offences carried out by first-time knife criminals, new figures show

Ministry of Justice figures show 302 first-time knife criminals in South Yorkshire went through the criminal justice system in the year ending March 2023.

They account for 65 per cent - just under two-thirds - of all those found guilty of knife and offensive weapon offences. Of these, only 20 per cent were jailed immediately.

Responding to the figures, a spokesperson from anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said urgent change is needed to address this trend, as it suggests 'for some, carrying knives has become normalised behaviour'.

Patrick Green, Ben Kinsella Trust chief executive, said they show the law is not providing a 'sufficient deterrent' and many first-time knife criminals would go on to become serial offenders.

Mr Green said: “One possibility is that young people are feeling increasingly unsafe, and that they are mistakenly carrying knives for protection.

“Protecting our youth and fostering a safe environment for all should be a government priority.”

He added children are also influenced by social media, which “often portrays knives in a glamorised way” and said young people must be provided with the necessary support, education, and opportunities to steer them away from violence.

Across England and Wales, the proportion of offenders sent into immediate custody for a knife offence fell from 37 per cent in the year ending March 2020 to 30 per cent this year.

In South Yorkshire, offenders were cautioned or sentenced 463 times for knife-related crimes. Of those, 152 (33 per cent) resulted in immediate jail sentences – fewer than in 2019-20, when the figure stood at 38 per cent.

South Yorkshire Police caught children aged under 18 with knives 71 times in 2022-23, a decrease from 75 the year before.

Of those cautioned or sentenced, 93 per cent were men, similar to 92 per cent the year before.

Overall, there were 19,086 knife offences that resulted in a caution or sentence in England and Wales to March this year, which was a slight decrease on last year’s figure of 19,674.

There are a number of permanent knife amnesty bins in place in sheffield, in the following locations: Wolseley Road, Sharrow, Sheffield; Birley Moor Road, Frencheville, Sheffield; Devonshire Green (off Fitzwilliam Street), Sheffield city centre.