“High-harm” violent offences involving weapons are soaring in England and Wales, as a crime wave continues, with knife and gun crime, as well as homicide, shooting up.
Meanwhile, police also recorded 31 percent more rapes, up to 53,977, and 21 percent more other sexual offences, rising to 96,755.
The revelations, from the latest official figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show offences involving knives or sharp instruments rising by 16 percent to 40,147 – the fourth consecutive increase in knife attacks revealed by the ONS.
The figures are police-recorded crimes for the year to March, and also show homicides rose 12 percent by 74 to 701 in the period, even with exceptional incidents with multiple victims such as the terror attacks in London and Manchester not included.
Gun crime also rose, but at a less dramatic rate than knife crime, with a two percent increase to 6,492 offences while the number of robberies soared by 30 percent to 77,103 in the 12-month period.
The figures cover the first three months of this year, when violent crime surged, particularly knife attacks in London, where the murder rate surpassed that of New York City and hospital surgeons compared condition to a “war zone“.
Caroline Youell, crime statistics and analysis at the ONS, said: “Most people don’t experience crime. Today’s figures show a fairly stable picture in England and Wales for most crime types. It is too early to say if this is a change to the long-term declining trend.
“There have been increases in some lower-volume ‘high-harm’ offences such as homicide and knife crime, consistent with rises over the past three years. However, the latest rise in gun crime is much smaller than previously seen.
“We have also seen continued increases in some theft offences such as vehicle-related theft and burglary, while computer viruses have fallen.”
Leftist London Mayor Sadiq Khan said earlier this year that he “can not solve knife crime by [him]self”, blaming Conservative government cuts and implying right-wing opponents are lying.
Before his election, he claimed police stop and search tactics unfairly targeted minority ethnic groups and promised to “do everything in my power to cut” the practice, before reversing his stance as crime began to surge.
In May, he insisted he has “done nothing wrong” in relation to violence and knife crime as London Mayor, arguing his tax hikes have helped the situation.
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