Weapons Crime: year ending December 2017

Weapons crime in England and Wales, involving knives, guns, and other types of weapon.

This page is part of the latest crime collection

Release date: 26 April 2018

Release frequency: Quarterly

Next release: September 2018 (provisional)

Knife crime reaches a seven-year-high

The police recorded 39,598 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending December 2017. This is a 22% increase compared with the previous year (32,468), and the highest number in the seven-years' of available data.

Police recorded crime data are not designated as National Statistics. Not all offences come to their attention, and reporting may be affected by changes in recording practices and police activity.

The number of knife crimes recorded has risen for the past three years. Before this, we saw a general downward trend since the year ending March 2011.

"Assault with injury" and "assault with intent to cause serious harm" made up around half (49%) of all crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument. All categories of weapons crime for which we collect data showed increases.

London's Metropolitan Police saw the largest increase (accounting for 48% of the total increase).

Admissions data for NHS hospitals in England shows a 7% increase in assault by a sharp object. Rising from 4,054 in the year ending March 2016 to 4,351 in the following 12 months.

Possession of a blade or point also rose

Police recorded "possession of an article with a blade or point" offences also rose, by 33%, to 17,437 offences. This is consistent with increases seen over the last four years, and the highest figure since the series began in the year ending March 2009.

Firearm crimes have increased for the first time since 2005

England and Wales, year ending March 2003 to year ending December 2017

Source: Police recorded crime, Home Office

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Offences involving firearms increased by 11% (to 6,604) in the year ending December 2017, compared with the previous year (5,945 offences).

Police recorded a:

  • 12% increase in offences involving handguns (accounting for 46% of the overall increase)
  • 21% increase in offences involving unidentified firearms
  • 20% increase in offences involving shotguns
  • NHS England hospital admissions data also shows increases firearm injuries. This rose from 109 admissions in the year ending March 2016 to 135 admissions in the year ending March 2017

London's Air Ambulance Data also suggest an increase in serious offences involving a weapon. In 2017, injuries resulting from stabbings and shootings were the most common cause for a helicopter to be dispatched.

Weapons crime data

This page mainly reports on data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime.

View all data

More information on both these sources can be found in the User guide to crime statistics for England and Wales.

Other data used on this page

Using weapons crime data

More pages in this collection

More about weapons crime

Contact us

Mark Bangs
crimestatistics@ons.gov.uk
+44 (0)2075 928689

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