Knife crime: Fatal stabbings at highest level since records began in 1946 - BBC News
The biggest increase in knife crime victims is among young men and boys, official figures show.
The number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales last year was the highest since records began in 1946, official figures show.

There were 285 killings by a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months ending March 2018, Office for National Statistics analysis shows.

The ONS says one in four (71) of all victims (285) were men aged 18-24.

The figures also show 25% of victims were black - the highest proportion since data was first collected in 1997.

The figures show a 45% increase in the number of victims aged 16-24 and a 23% increase in those aged 25-34.

While gun crime was lower than 10 years ago, it was at its highest for a decade in four English counties - West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Cheshire.

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The figures on homicide do not generally vary hugely from year-to-year, which is why the steep increase in fatal stabbings to an all-time high is particularly striking.

It provides further evidence that knife crime is arguably the greatest law enforcement challenge facing the Home Office, police and communities across England and Wales.

Ministers have blamed much of the rise in serious violence on disputes between drug gangs. The figures provide some support for this with a slight increase in drug-related killings: 44% now compared with 40% in 2008.

In the past two years, 58% of suspects and 35% of victims were dealers or users.

However, drugs are unlikely to account for the entire rise in cases of murder and manslaughter which, as a proportion of population, is back to levels it was a decade ago but not as high as in the early 2000s.

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