England and Wales suffered their worst year for knife crime since records began, with the number of offenses involving such sharp instruments soaring by seven percent in the year ending in December, according to official figures.
New data published by the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday show that knife crime has increased by a massive 49 percent since records began in the year ending March 2011.
However, the true figure is likely to be even higher, with Greater Manchester Police unable to share its number, due to IT issues.
Figures for the year ending December 2019 showed a seven percent rise in offences involving knives or sharp instruments recorded by the police in the last year.
Nearly a third of all knife offenses recorded in England and Wales were committed in London, and the ONS said they were “concentrated in metropolitan areas.”
The number of fatal stabbings in the capital also rose by 13 percent in the year, compared with an eight percent fall nationally.
In January, three men, believed to be from the Sikh community, were stabbed to death in Ilford, east London, prompting calls for a change of mayor, amid claims that the incumbent Sadiq Khan has, in the words of one rival mayoral candidate, “lost control of our streets."
In February, 20-year-old Islamist terrorist Sudesh Amman knifed two people on Streatham High Road in south London, before being shot dead by officers.
The knife-crime statistics include offenses such as homicide, attempted murder, threats to kill, robbery, rape and sexual assault.
You can read this story as it originally appears at RT here.
Watch highlights from the 'You Can't Close America Down' rally in Austin, Texas.(PHOTO: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)
