Knife and offensive weapon sentencing statistics: year ending March 2022
Trends in cautioning and sentencing of knife and offensive weapon offences.
Applies to England and Wales
Documents
Details
Contents
2. Knife and offensive weapon offences overview
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
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possession of an article with a blade or point
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possession of an offensive weapon, or
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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:
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ODS format tables containing data on knife or offensive weapon offences up to the end of March 2022
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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.
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An interactive 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.
This publication covers the period from year ending March 2012 to year ending March 2022. The last two years of this period have been impacted by COVID and the restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic at various points since March 2020, and this should be borne in mind when making comparisons.
Main points
| Point | Change | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| The number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) has increased after falling in year ending March 2021 but is still lower than before the pandemic. | Increase | In year ending March 2022 19,555 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS. This is an increase of 5% since year ending March 2021, but is 9% lower than in year ending March 2020 before the start of the pandemic. |
| The proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence decreased to 30% in year ending March 2022. | Decrease | This had been stable at around 37%-38% between year ending March 2018 and year ending March 2020 but dropped between then and year ending March 2022. In this period there was a corresponding increase in the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence. |
| For 71% 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 76% in year ending March 2012 to 71% in year ending March 2022 but has been roughly stable since year ending March 2018. |
| The average custodial sentence received by offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 was 7.5 months in year ending March 2022 | Increase | This increased a little from 7.4 months in year ending March 2021 but was 0.3 months lower than in year ending March 2020 before the pandemic and just below the level seen in March 2018 shortly after the legislation was introduced. |
1. Statistician’s comment
Figures in this publication, covering data to year ending March 2022, are impacted from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic including the impact of lockdowns, changes to court arrangements (such as court closures, pauses to jury trials, remote hearings), the re-opening of courts and the types of cases which were prioritised.
Over the most recent year, the number of cases dealt with increased 5% to 19,555, which was only 9% lower than in year ending March 2020. Prior to the pandemic there had been an increasing trend. Between year ending March 2014 and year ending March 2019 the number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System increased from 16,431 to 22,183. However, in year ending March 2021 the number of offences dealt with then fell 14% in response to restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic. This highlights the number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System is showing signs of recovery, but the number of cases dealt with has not fully returned to levels shown before the pandemic started.
The proportion of offenders receiving immediate custody decreased from 37% in year ending March 2020 to 30% in year ending March 2022 with a corresponding increase in the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence (25%, up from 20%). It is likely this has been affected by changes during the pandemic, and the types of cases prioritised through the courts. This will continue to be assessed as court activity recovers.
2. Knife and offensive weapon offences overview
The number of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the Criminal Justice System (CJS) has increased after falling in year ending March 2021 but is still lower than before the pandemic.
In year ending March 2022 19,555 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS. This is an increase of 5% since year ending March 2021, which includes the dip in Q2 2020 after COVID restrictions were imposed, but is 9% lower than in year ending March 2020 before the start of the pandemic and similar to the level seen in year ending March 2017.
Figure 1: Knife and offensive weapon offences by offence type, England and Wales, annually from year ending March 2012 (Source: Table 1a)
In April to June 2020, the first quarter affected by COVID-19 restrictions, there was a 52% fall in the number of offences dealt with compared to the same quarter in 2019; from 5,732 to 2,772. This went back up after Q3 2020. There were 4,981 cases dealt with in January to March 2022, which was 1% higher than in the same quarter of 2020 when things started to wind down at the start of the pandemic and 15% lower than in the same quarter of 2019.
Figure 1 shows that the previous increase between year ending March 2014 and year ending March 2019 was driven by possession of an article with a blade or point offences, which increased 46% over the period. In year ending March 2021 there was a decrease for all three offence types in the number of offences dealt with as the work of courts was restricted by lockdown measures imposed at the start of the pandemic. For possession offence types the number of cases dealt with increased again in year ending March 2022 compared with the previous year, blade or point by 8% and offensive weapon by 1%, but the number of threatening cases dealt with decreased by 6%.
The particular increases in possession of blade or point offences, as described above, means that this offence type now accounts for a bigger proportion of knife and offensive weapon offenses. In year ending March 2022 possession of blade or point offences accounted for around two thirds (67%) of knife and offensive weapon offenses dealt with compared to 56% in year ending March 2012, while possession of offensive weapon offences accounted for 30% of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with in year ending March 2022 compared to 44% in year ending March 2012.
This is reflected in recent police recorded crime figures published by the ONS which showed a 9% decrease in the number of knife and offensive weapon offences recorded from 38,728 in year ending March 2020 to 35,217 in year ending March 2021 followed by a 16% increase to 40,920 in year ending March 2022. Information published by the Home Office on “Crime outcomes in England and Wales” show that 43% of these offences resulted in a charge or police caution in the year ending March 2022.This is down from 50% in year ending March 2021.
3. Sentencing
The proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence decreased to 30% in year ending March 2022.
This had been stable at around 37%-38% between year ending March 2018 and year ending March 2020 but dropped between then and year ending March 2022. In this period there was a corresponding increase in the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence.
Figure 2: Knife and offensive weapon offences by disposal type, England and Wales, annually from year ending March 2011 (Source: Table 1)
Between year ending March 2012 and year ending March 2018 there was an increase in the proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence, from 27% to 38%, which remained broadly stable at around 37% or 38% until year ending March 2020 before falling to 30% in year ending March 2022. It is likely this has been affected by changes during the pandemic, and the types of cases prioritised through the courts. This will continue to be assessed as court activity recovers. The chart also shows that between year ending March 2020 and year ending March 2022 there was a corresponding increase in the proportions of offenders receiving a suspended sentence (20% to 25%). In year ending March 2022 suspended sentence became the second most common disposal, although the picture for this year is more subject to change than the picture for other years when cases referred to the Crown Court for sentencing receive final decisions. The proportion of offenders who received a caution generally decreased between year ending March 2012 and year ending March 2017 but has remained broadly stable between 11% and 13% since then.
Over the long-term, average custodial sentence length has generally increased, particularly for adults and possession of blade and point offences. However, in year ending March 2021 the average custodial sentence length for both possession of an article with a blade or point and possession of an offensive weapon decreased; possession of blade or point offences from 7.2 months in year ending March 2020 to 7.0 months and possession of offensive weapon offences from 8.2 months to 6.9 months. In year ending March 2022 average custodial sentence length for possession of blade or point offences increased again to 7.3 months, the highest in the series; while average custodial sentence length for possession of offensive weapon offences increased, but only to 7.4 months, and remained lower than before the pandemic. Average custodial sentence length for threatening offences has remained stable at 13.4 months since year ending March 2020, although this is the highest level since threatening offences were introduced in December 2012.
4. Offending History
For 71% of offenders this was their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence
The proportion of offenders for whom this is their first knife or offensive weapon possession offence has been decreasing over the last decade, from 76% in year ending March 2012 to 71% in year ending March 2022 but has been roughly stable since year ending March 2018.
The decrease in the proportion of first time knife and offensive weapon offenders has been seen for both adults and juveniles, with the proportion for adults decreasing from 73% to 68% between year ending March 2012 and year ending March 2022 and the proportion for 10 to 17 year olds decreasing from 89% to 82% over the same period.
Figure 3: Number of previous cautions or convictions for the possession of a knife or offensive weapon offence for offenders cautioned or convicted for a knife or offensive weapon offence, England and Wales, annually from year ending March 2012 (Source: Interactive Pivot Table Tool)
Figure 3 shows the number of cautions or convictions for a knife or offensive weapon offence, broken down by the number of previous cautions or convictions the offender had previously received for a knife or offensive weapon offence. Whilst the number of offenders with no previous knife and offensive weapon offence rose year on year between year ending March 2014 and year ending March 2019 (ending on 14,388), this made up a smaller proportion of offenders (as described above). The number of offenders with no previous knife and offensive weapon offence fell to 12,130 in year ending March 2021, when fewer cases were dealt with, before rising again to 12,515 in year ending March 2022.
A similar pattern can be seen in the number of offenders who have at least one previous knife or offensive weapon offence. A rise to year ending March 2019, a fall to year ending March 2021, and then an increase in year ending March 2022.
5. Sentencing under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (formerly Section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (CJCA))
Following the commencement of Section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (CJCA), a court must impose a minimum custodial sentence on an offender who has been convicted of a second or subsequent offence involving possession of a knife or offensive weapon. The court must impose the minimum sentence unless it would not be in the interest of justice to do so.
(Data presented in this section corresponds with tables 7, 8 and 9 - repeat possession offences under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 which exclude cautions, both when considering an individual’s offence history and as an outcome. They were first published in the Q2 2021 edition of the bulletin as Tables 7a, 8a and 9a alongside the previous versions of those tables (7, 8 and 9) which included cautions and now replace them.)
The average custodial sentence received by offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 was 7.5 months in year ending March 2022.
This increased a little from 7.4 months in year ending March 2021 but was 0.3 months lower than in year ending March 2020 before the pandemic and just below the level seen in March 2018 shortly after the legislation was introduced.
Figure 4: Knife and offensive weapons possession sentencing occasions for adult repeat offenders, by disposal type, annually from year ending March 2017 (Source: Table 7)
In year ending March 2022 three fifths (60%) of adult offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 received an immediate custodial sentence. This has dropped from 72% in year ending March 2020. Overall, 85% of adult offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 in with 25% receiving a suspended sentence. The proportion receiving a suspended sentence increased from 18% in year ending March 2020, reflecting the picture for all knife and offensive weapons offences dealt with.
Please note, however, that year ending March 2022 has a much higher number of cases referred to the Crown Court and awaiting sentencing than previous years and the picture for this year is more subject to change when these cases receive final decisions.
For 16- and 17-year olds, in year ending March 2022 32% of offenders sentenced under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 received an immediate custodial sentence.The proportion of 16-17-year-old offenders dealt with under the legislation receiving an immediate custodial sentence fell from 50% in year ending March 2020 to 33% in year ending March 2021 but was broadly stable over the past year. By contrast, the proportion of 16- and 17-year olds receiving a community sentence increased from 39% in year ending March 2020 to 58% in both year ending March 2021 and year ending March 2022. Please note, however, that for this age group a discount for an early guilty plea will lead to a non-custodial sentence as 4 months is the minimum period of custody given to under 18s. (back to top)
6. Further information
Tables 7, 8 and 9 relate to repeat possession offences under Section 315 of the Sentencing Act 2020 (formerly section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (CJCA)) and exclude cautions, both when considering an individual’s offence history and as an outcome. They were first published in the Q2 2021 edition of the bulletin as Tables 7a, 8a and 9a alongside the previous versions of those tables (7, 8 and 9) which included cautions and now replace them.
The data presented in this publication are provisional and updated in each publication. Figures provided for more recent quarters are subject to change in future publications as ongoing cases pass through the Criminal Justice System.
A technical guide provides further information on how the data is collected and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to knife and offensive weapon sentencing.
Official Statistics status
Official statistics are produced under the remit of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They are produced impartially and are free from political influence. More information can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website
7. Future publications
Next update: 17 November 2022
Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency and methodology. Please send any comments you have on this publication including suggestions for further developments or changes in content.
Contact
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:
Tel: 020 3334 3536
Email: newsdesk@justice.gov.uk
Other enquiries about, or feedback on, these statistics should be directed to the Data and Analysis division of the Ministry of Justice:
Fazeen Khamkar,
Ministry of Justice,
102 Petty France,
London,
SW1H 9AJ
Email: statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk
© Crown copyright Produced by the Ministry of Justice. Alternative formats are available on request from statistics.enquiries@justice.gov.uk
8. Pre-release access
The bulletin was produced and handled by the ministry’s analytical professionals and production staff. Prior to publication pre-release access of up to 24 hours was granted to the following persons:
Ministry of Justice:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State – covering sentencing; Permanent Secretary; Minister and Permanent Secretary Private Secretaries (3); Special Advisors (2); Head of Custodial Sentencing Policy Unit; Senior Policy Advisor, Custodial Sentencing Policy Unit; Head of Youth Justice Policy; Head of News and relevant press officers (4).
Home Office:
Home Secretary; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime and Policing; Minister Private Secretaries (2); Special Advisors (1); Head of Knife Crime Team; Policy Advisor, Serious Violence Unit; and relevant press officers (1).
Cabinet Office:
Senior Delivery Analyst, Number 10 Delivery Unit.