>#Judges jail fewer than one in three convicted of knife crimes
>Matt Dathan, Home Affairs Editor
>Friday August 19 2022, 12.01am BST, The Times
>Fewer than a third of knife crime convictions resulted in a prison sentence over the past year, falling to the lowest level since 2014, according to an analysis of official figures.
>The Ministry of Justice disclosed that 5,815 people convicted of a knife crime were given an immediate custodial sentence, representing 30 per cent of the 19,555 knife crime convictions overall between March last year and March this year.
>Nearly two thirds, 64 per cent, received either no penalty at all, a caution, a fine or a community or suspended sentence. Twenty-five per cent of offences were dealt with by way of a suspended sentence, twice the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence in 2012.
>A large proportion of repeat knife crime offenders avoided a prison sentence over the past year, despite the government introducing a mandatory six-month sentence for adults convicted of carrying a knife for a second time. Judges were given the power to hand out sentences of between six months and a maximum of four years for repeat offenders, while those aged between 15 and 17 would face a minimum four-month detention and training order.
>Figures published by the Ministry of Justice showed that 41 per cent of repeat knife crime offenders were given non-custodial sentences last year, although this was a lower proportion than in the year before, when 44 per cent of repeat offenders were given non-custodial sentences.
>Judges are allowed to depart from the minimum sentence rules if there are particular circumstances that would make it unjust to impose the minimum, while an early guilty plea can also cut the length of a sentence below the minimum.
>The Labour Party, which conducted the analysis of Ministry of Justice figures, said that the fall in custodial sentences exposed the Conservatives as being “soft on crime”.
>Steve Reed, the Labour MP for Croydon North and shadow justice secretary, said: “These troubling figures just reinforce that the Conservatives are letting knife criminals off and letting victims down.
>“The Conservatives have already broken their promise to lock up repeat knife offenders. This is yet more evidence that they are soft on knife crime.”
>He added: “Labour would put security at the heart of its contract with the British public, putting police hubs and neighbourhood prevention teams in every community to keep the public safe.”
>A government spokesman said: “Those caught carrying a knife are more likely to be sent to jail, and for longer, than they were a decade ago.
“Since 2019, 72,000 dangerous weapons have been taken off our streets through stop and search, surrender programmes and other targeted police action. The 20,000 extra police officers we are recruiting will help to bring more criminals before the courts and our Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act ensures the most serious and violent offenders will spend longer behind bars.”
UK knife laws are a joke anyway. Simply having a knife on your person should not be a crime, we certainly shouldn’t be putting people in prison for it.
I would like to see that study to actual crime to the person getting a slap on the wrist for having a leatherman tool etc.
Will sending them to prison reduce the probability of them doing it again? Or will it increase the probability?
I’m all for different sentencing which combines punishment with rehabilitation. Prison makes more sense to me when you’re less interested in rehabilitation and more interested in containment.
Define “knife crime”.
Some stupid teenager being caught with a stanley knife – hardly worth prison, a record and destroying their life is it? Would be better dealing with it in other non-custodial ways.
On the other hand, someone taking a kitchen knife and stabbing their partner – 100% prison.
All harsher sentencing will do concerning younger offenders is recycle the majority of them through the prison system. What we do need to do as a society is invest in realistic and proven methods of rehabilitation in conjunction with a serious effort in re-enfranchising kids and young adults.
Unfortunately neither Labour or the Tories feel that they should address these issues.
The UK is a failed society
People commit crimes because they think they won’t get caught. Harsher sentences make no difference.
I thought there was a minimum jail sentence for carrying a knife
Article is paywalled. How do they define “knife crime”? Because if they’re including the offence committed when one simply carries a knife, then not jailing people might be fair enough.
10 comments
>#Judges jail fewer than one in three convicted of knife crimes
>Matt Dathan, Home Affairs Editor
>Friday August 19 2022, 12.01am BST, The Times
>Fewer than a third of knife crime convictions resulted in a prison sentence over the past year, falling to the lowest level since 2014, according to an analysis of official figures.
>The Ministry of Justice disclosed that 5,815 people convicted of a knife crime were given an immediate custodial sentence, representing 30 per cent of the 19,555 knife crime convictions overall between March last year and March this year.
>Nearly two thirds, 64 per cent, received either no penalty at all, a caution, a fine or a community or suspended sentence. Twenty-five per cent of offences were dealt with by way of a suspended sentence, twice the proportion of offenders receiving a suspended sentence in 2012.
>A large proportion of repeat knife crime offenders avoided a prison sentence over the past year, despite the government introducing a mandatory six-month sentence for adults convicted of carrying a knife for a second time. Judges were given the power to hand out sentences of between six months and a maximum of four years for repeat offenders, while those aged between 15 and 17 would face a minimum four-month detention and training order.
>Figures published by the Ministry of Justice showed that 41 per cent of repeat knife crime offenders were given non-custodial sentences last year, although this was a lower proportion than in the year before, when 44 per cent of repeat offenders were given non-custodial sentences.
>Judges are allowed to depart from the minimum sentence rules if there are particular circumstances that would make it unjust to impose the minimum, while an early guilty plea can also cut the length of a sentence below the minimum.
>The Labour Party, which conducted the analysis of Ministry of Justice figures, said that the fall in custodial sentences exposed the Conservatives as being “soft on crime”.
>Steve Reed, the Labour MP for Croydon North and shadow justice secretary, said: “These troubling figures just reinforce that the Conservatives are letting knife criminals off and letting victims down.
>“The Conservatives have already broken their promise to lock up repeat knife offenders. This is yet more evidence that they are soft on knife crime.”
>He added: “Labour would put security at the heart of its contract with the British public, putting police hubs and neighbourhood prevention teams in every community to keep the public safe.”
>A government spokesman said: “Those caught carrying a knife are more likely to be sent to jail, and for longer, than they were a decade ago.
“Since 2019, 72,000 dangerous weapons have been taken off our streets through stop and search, surrender programmes and other targeted police action. The 20,000 extra police officers we are recruiting will help to bring more criminals before the courts and our Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act ensures the most serious and violent offenders will spend longer behind bars.”
UK knife laws are a joke anyway. Simply having a knife on your person should not be a crime, we certainly shouldn’t be putting people in prison for it.
I would like to see that study to actual crime to the person getting a slap on the wrist for having a leatherman tool etc.
Will sending them to prison reduce the probability of them doing it again? Or will it increase the probability?
I’m all for different sentencing which combines punishment with rehabilitation. Prison makes more sense to me when you’re less interested in rehabilitation and more interested in containment.
Define “knife crime”.
Some stupid teenager being caught with a stanley knife – hardly worth prison, a record and destroying their life is it? Would be better dealing with it in other non-custodial ways.
On the other hand, someone taking a kitchen knife and stabbing their partner – 100% prison.
[How Norway turns criminals into good neighbours](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-48885846)
All harsher sentencing will do concerning younger offenders is recycle the majority of them through the prison system. What we do need to do as a society is invest in realistic and proven methods of rehabilitation in conjunction with a serious effort in re-enfranchising kids and young adults.
Unfortunately neither Labour or the Tories feel that they should address these issues.
The UK is a failed society
People commit crimes because they think they won’t get caught. Harsher sentences make no difference.
I thought there was a minimum jail sentence for carrying a knife
Article is paywalled. How do they define “knife crime”? Because if they’re including the offence committed when one simply carries a knife, then not jailing people might be fair enough.