FOI 305886
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 305886
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 22nd January 2024 Please find below the response to your request:
I would like to know what data West Mercia Police holds on children that have been caught with a knife and/or been attacked with a knife.
I am looking for data pertaining to 6 to 13 year olds which is broken it down by age (ie individual stats for 6 year olds, 7 years olds, etc) on the following:
- The number of children within that age bracket who have been found with a knife by the police.
- The number of children within that age bracket that have been a victim of knife related crimes committed by other adults.
- The number of children within that age bracket who have been a victim of knife related crimes by other children
- The number of children within the ages of 10 to 13 that have been arrested or charged for carrying a knife.
The date needed is from Jan 2019 to December 2023 (or the most recent available data - please make clear when this data runs up to) and would like the data broken down by year and age group.
Reply
- The number of children within that age bracket who have been found with a knife by the police.
|
Number of suspects linked to investigations within the Primary Subgroup of "Possession Article with Blade or Point" |
||||||
|
Suspects age in years |
Calendar Year |
Grand Total |
||||
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
||
|
7 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
8 |
2 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
4 |
|
9 |
2 |
2 |
|
2 |
4 |
10 |
|
10 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
20 |
|
11 |
6 |
10 |
6 |
9 |
5 |
36 |
|
12 |
10 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
35 |
|
13 |
7 |
11 |
12 |
23 |
10 |
63 |
|
Grand Total |
31 |
32 |
27 |
50 |
31 |
171 |
- The number of children within that age bracket that have been a victim of knife related crimes committed by other adults.
|
Number of Suspects linked to Knife related crimes between 01/01/2019 & 31/12/2023 |
|
||
|
Age of victims |
Suspect 18 and Over |
|
|
|
6 |
3 |
||
|
7 |
8 |
||
|
8 |
3 |
||
|
9 |
9 |
||
|
10 |
2 |
||
|
11 |
15 |
||
|
12 |
12 |
||
|
13 |
18 |
||
|
Grand Total |
70 |
||
- The number of children within that age bracket who have been a victim of knife related crimes by other children
|
Number of Suspects linked to Knife related crimes between 01/01/2019 & 31/12/2023 |
|
||
|
Age of victims (within specified range) |
Suspect under 18 |
|
|
|
6 |
3 |
||
|
7 |
4 |
||
|
8 |
13 |
||
|
9 |
13 |
||
|
10 |
18 |
||
|
11 |
54 |
||
|
12 |
67 |
||
|
13 |
79 |
||
|
Grand Total |
251 |
||
- The number of children within the ages of 10 to 13 that have been arrested or charged for carrying a knife.
|
Number of offences within the Primary Subgroup of "Possession Article with Blade or Point" where the suspect is within specified age range, broken down by suspects age in years, where the outcome suggests a person has been charged |
Calendar Year |
Grand Total |
||||
|
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
||
|
Type 1 - Charged/Summonsed/Postal Requisition |
|
|
1 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
|
10 |
|
|
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
13 |
|
|
1 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
|
Grand Total |
|
|
1 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
Caveats:
- The ages of the suspects and victims have been calculated as at the time that the offence and only included are those in the return that were within the specified age range.
- There are occasions where there can be more than one suspect linked to an investigation, where this is the case, the age of the oldest suspect has been used to compare with the age of the victim(s).
- There are occasions where there can be more than one suspect linked to an investigation therefore the number of suspects is not necessarily equal to the number of offences.
- There are occasions where there can be more than one victim linked to a crime and therefore the number of victims may not be equal to the number of offences.
- Crimes where knives have been used as part of an offence can be recorded with an offence title not linked to knives. For example, if someone is stabbed with a knife and caused significant injuries the matter will be recorded as an “Assault”. We have therefore had to rely on a number of keyword searches to complete this request. Therefore, there may be some offences where the knife was not used in the commission of the offence but was at the scene. For example, if a suspect is threatening to harm themselves with a knife, someone intervenes and the suspect punches them causing injury. This may be included as knife crime as the knife was present and mentioned in the incident summary however it was not used in the commission of the assault.
- Due to the keywords used other sharp or bladed instruments may be included, for example scissors or machete