Knife possession sentencing quarterly brief: April to June 2016
Source: data.gov.uk (2018-05-25)

Knife Possession Sentencing Statistics. This series of publications contain key statistics describing trends in cautioning and sentencing, probation supervision and the prison population for offences involving the possession of a knife or offensive weapon in England and Wales.

Knife Possession Sentencing 
Quarterly, England and Wales 
 
April to June 2016 
 
Ministry of Justice 
Statistics bulletin 
 
 
Published 08 September 2016 
 

2 
 
Contents  
Contents 
2 
Introduction 
3 
Key findings 
5 
Knife Possession Sentencing 
6 
Annex A: List of Accompanying Tables 
12 
Annex B: Key Events 
13 
Annex C: Repeated offences for knife possession                                15  
Annex D: Assessing the accuracy of estimation method 
16 
Annex E: Explanatory notes 
18 
Annex F: Other knife and sharp object related statistical released 
20 
Annex G: Glossary 
21 
Contacts 
22 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3 
 
Introduction 
This bulletin presents key statistics describing the trends in both the number of 
offenders receiving cautions and convictions, and those in prison for knife possession 
offences in England and Wales. This bulletin does not cover all knife crimes 
(offences involving a knife) as published by the Office for National Statistics1.  
The publication provides provisional figures for the latest quarter (April to June ) with 
accompanying commentary and analysis. Statistics on adults and juvenile offenders 
are presented separately to show the effects of different sentencing guidelines.  
The information provided is a summary of three types of knife and offensive weapon 
possession offences: 
 Possession offences of having an article with a blade or point in a public place or 
on school premises,  
 Possession of offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse in 
a public place or on school premises,  
 Offences involving threatening with a knife or offensive weapon in a public place 
or on school premises (introduced on 3rd December 20122 – an aggravated form 
of a possession offence occurs when an offender in possession of a knife or 
offensive weapon uses it to threaten and endangers others) 
. 
 
 
 
Other key events that might be expected to affect the statistics presented in this 
bulletin can be found in Annex B.  
3 
 
 
 
                                            
1 
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingm
ar2016. Details of other official statistics publications regarding knife related statistics can be found in Annex F. 
2 www.gov.uk/government/news/new-sentences-and-criminal-offences-come-into-effect.  
3www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/2/part/1/crossheading/repeat-offences-involving-offensive-weapons-etc 
 
On 17 July 2015 Section 28 and Schedule 5 to the Criminal Justice and Courts 
Act 2015 came into force3. This introduced a minimum custodial sentence for 
those aged 16 or over who are convicted and sentenced for a second offence 
of possessing an offensive weapon or bladed article. This publication includes 
some estimates on these cases 

4 
 
 Data Sources 
This report draws on data from the following sources: 
 Data on cautions and convictions are collected from the Police National 
Computer (PNC) – tables 1-5b. As an administrative system, the PNC is regularly 
updated as new information about offenders becomes available. As a result there 
are delays in the database becoming updated with the latest information about 
an offender’s convictions in time for publication. A methodology has therefore 
been developed to estimate the number and breakdown of disposals given for 
the possession of a knife or an offensive weapon in the most recent four 
quarters. Annex D provides further details of this methodology. 
 Prison population information is drawn from prison administrative IT systems, see 
Annex E for more detail. 
 
Feedback requested  
The structure and content of this report is continually being reviewed to reflect user 
requirements. If you have any feedback about these changes, or report more 
generally, please contact the production team using the contact details at the back of 
the report. 
Current and previous editions of this publication are available for download at 
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/series/knife-possession-
sentencing-quarterly. 
The next publication of the Knife Possession Sentencing Quarterly is scheduled to be 
published on 8th December 2016, covering the period July to September 2016. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

5 
 
Key findings  
For the period April to June 2016 (Q2 2016) it is estimated that:   
 4,917 knife possession offences were formally dealt with by the criminal justice 
system (CJS); 14% more than Q2 2015.  
Of those crimes: 
 3,867 (79%) were adult offenders where 
 39% were given an immediate custodial sentence, an increase of 
five percentage points from a year ago – a continuation of the 
general upward trend over the longer term since Q2 2008 when it 
was 22%. 
 9% received a caution which has more than halved since the same 
period 8 years ago where it was 30%. Of the 9% who received a 
caution, around three quarters of these offenders were first time 
possession of a knife or offensive weapon offence offenders. 
 1,050 (21%) were juvenile offenders where  
 12% received a sentence of immediate custody, up from 7% in Q2 
2008.  
 31% received a youth caution, a decrease when compared with the 
same quarter in 2008 when 45% of juvenile offenders received a 
youth caution. 
 The average custodial sentence length for offenders sentenced to immediate 
custody was 8 months, 3.5 months longer than the same period eight years ago.  
 Since the introduction of minimum sentencing for conviction of a second 
possession offence, it is estimated that 2,738 offenders have been dealt with 
under this legislation4  between 17th July 2015 and 30th June 2016. Of these; 
 
 2,531 were adults where 57% received an immediate custodial sentence 
with an average sentence length of 7.2 months, and an additional 22% 
received a suspended sentence. 
 
 207 were aged 16 or 17 of whom 46% received a community sentence 
and 43% received immediate custody with an average sentence length of 
6.2 months. 
 
 
                                            
4www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/2/part/1/crossheading/repeat-offences-involving-offensive-weapons-etc 

6 
 
Knife Possession Sentencing 
In Q2 2016, 4,917 offences were formally dealt with by the Criminal Justice System 
(CJS) for a knife possession offence, 14% (4,299) higher than in Q2 2015.  
Similar to previous quarters offenders committed an average of 1.1 offences per 
occasion. Threatening with a knife or offensive weapon accounted for 4% of all knife 
possession offences, one percentage point more than the previous year. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The most common disposal for a knife possession offence continues to be immediate 
custody (34%) followed by community sentence (24%) and suspended sentence 
(19%).  
Immediate custody accounts for 34% of the disposals for knife possession offences 
and this has remained same as the previous quarter. Over time the proportion of 
offenders receiving immediate custody has increased since Q4 2007 where it was 
16%. The further increase over the last three quarters in immediate custody 
coincides with the introduction of the repeat knife possession legislation on the 17th 
July 2015.   
In the year ending March 2016, the police recorded1 28,664 offences involving a knife 
or sharp instrument, a 10% increase compared with the previous year (26,041). There 
has been a general downward trend in this series over the longer-term, and the latest 
figures are 12% lower than in year ending March 2011. However, the majority of police 
forces (37 of the 44) recorded a rise in these offences compared with the previous year 
Comparing the latest year with the year ending March 2011, with the exceptions of 
robbery and homicide, there have been increases in the number of offences where a 
knife or sharp instrument was used. Increases in the latest year are consistent with 
increases in the overall level of these offences; for example, the 15% rise in the number 
of “assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm” offences involving 
a knife or sharp instrument mirrors the 15% rise seen in all incidents of these offences. 
Other evidence, albeit focused on the most serious knife-related crimes relating to 
hospital admissions for assault with a sharp instrument, have shown little change over 
the past year following declines in previous years. For the year ending April 2015 there 
were 3,614 admissions for assault with a sharp instrument compared with a peak of 
5,720 in the year ending March 2007, although such incidents may not be 
representative of all knife-related crime. 
Knife possession figures are affected by police operations and this may be due to 
police being more proactive and running anti-knife crime operations. 
1http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/
yearendingmar2016#offences-involving-weapons 

7 
 
For those sentenced to immediate custody, the average custodial sentence length [2] 
was 8.0 months in Q2 2016; an increase of 0.3 months when compared with Q2 
2015 and an increase of  3.5 months compared to the same period eight years ago.  
68% of this increase in average custodial sentence length between Q2 2015 and Q2 
2016 has come from offenders being convicted of possession of a blade or point 
offence. 14% of this increase comes from possession of an offensive weapons and 
17% from threatening offences.  
Figure 1: Proportion of type of disposal given for knife possession offences in 
England and Wales, between Q2 2008 and Q2 2016 
   
  
Notes: 
1) 
Figures for Q3 2015 – Q2 2016 include estimated figures based on historical data changes. Please see Annex D for further details. 
2) 
From Q4 2012 offences involving threatening with a knife or offensive weapon have been included. 
3) 
Other includes absolute / conditional discharge, fine and other disposals (cases include where an offender is committed to crown court for 
sentencing and is otherwise dealt with on conviction). 
4) 
Dotted lines indicate where figures have been estimated. 
 
Knife possession offences by age group 
Adult offenders were more likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence for knife 
possession offences than any other disposal.  In the latest quarter, 39% received 
immediate custody, along with the previous quarter this is the highest proportion it 
has been since Q4 2007.  
Over time there has been a significant fall in the proportion of adult offenders given a 
caution. In the latest quarter, only 9% (compared to 30% in Q2 2008) of adult 
offenders received a caution.  Around three quarters of these offenders were first 
time possession of a knife or offensive weapon offence offenders. 
                                            
[2] On average knife possession offences take 91 days from the date of being charged to court 
outcome.  This means that average custodial sentence length presented, especially those in Q2 2016, 
are likely to change when more information becomes available on the PNC as these cases pass through 
the criminal justice system. 
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Q4 2007
Q1 2008
Q2 2008
Q3 2008
Q4 2008
Q1 2009
Q2 2009
Q3 2009
Q4 2009
Q1 2010
Q2 2010
Q3 2010
Q4 2010
Q1 2011
Q2 2011
Q3 2011
Q4 2011
Q1 2012
Q2 2012
Q3 2012
Q4 2012
Q1 2013
Q2 2013
Q3 2013
Q4 2013
Q1 2014
Q2 2014
Q3 2014
Q4 2014
Q1 2015
Q2 2015
Q3 2015
Q4 2015
Q1 2016
Q2 2016
Proportion of all disposals
Caution
Community sentence
Suspended sentence
Immediate custody
Other
Caution [E]
Community sentence [E]
Suspended sentence [E]
Immediate custody [E]
Other [E]

8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Juvenile offenders were more likely to receive a community sentence for a knife 
possession offence (50%).  Caution proportions have remained relatively stable over 
the last seven years, 31% were given a youth caution5 a decrease of two percentage 
points on the previous quarter. This is however, significantly lower than in Q2 2008 
where 45% of juvenile offenders received cautions. All juvenile offenders who 
received a caution in the year ending June 2016 were first time possession of a knife 
or offensive weapon offence offenders. 
 
Criminal history6 of those cautioned or sentenced for knife possession 
offences 
The figures which are presented in this section reflect the criminal history of all 
offenders who have been cautioned or sentenced for a knife possession offence, for 
figures on cases where the repeated knife possession legislation can be applied 
please see the next section. 
Offenders with no previous knife possession offences were more likely to receive a 
community sentence (30%) in the year ending June 2016. This has changed 
substantially over the last seven years, in the year ending June 2009 offenders with 
no previous knife possession offences were most likely to receive a caution (33%). 
Conversely, offenders with at least one previous knife possession offence in the year 
ending June 2016 were more likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence 
(54%) compared to seven years ago (year ending June 2009) when 43% of these 
offenders received custodial sentences. 
The likelihood of a custodial sentence for adult offenders rose in relation to the 
number of previous knife possession offences; 26% of adult offenders with no 
previous convictions received an immediate custodial sentence compared to 67% for 
those with three or more previous offences in the year ending June 2016.  
                                            
5 Since April 8th 2013 youth cautions were introduced replacing reprimands and warnings for young 
offenders. 
6 In this section Criminal History only includes previous cautions and convictions for the possession of 
a knife or offensive weapon offences. 
The decline in adults cautions has in part been driven by the revised guidance on 
cautions that was issued in November 2013. The guidance made it clear that 
simple cautions should not be given for possession of a knife, and other serious 
either way offences, unless their issue was signed off by at least an Inspector. 
Since then statutory restrictions around the use of cautions, including their use for 
possession of a knife, have also been included in the Criminal Justice and Courts 
Act 2015 which came into force in April 2015.  

9 
 
Juvenile offenders were most likely to receive a community sentence whether or not 
they had a previous knife possession offence; 54% of those with no previous knife 
possession offences and 56% of those with one or more previous knife possession 
offences in the year ending June 2016. Courts will decide the appropriate sentence 
for each cases under the separate sentencing framework for children and young 
people.  Young offenders are dealt with differently to adults, in a way which 
recognises their relative lack of maturity, greater vulnerability and propensity to 
change their behaviour.  
34% of juvenile offenders received a caution with no previous knife possession 
offences, while 1% juvenile offenders received a caution after having a previous knife 
possession offence in the year ending June 2016. 
Figure 2: Disposals received for those convicted of knife possession offences 
by previous (no previous versus one or more previous) convictions or cautions 
for the possession of a blade or offensive weapon, in England and Wales 
 
 
Repeat offences for knife possession 
It has been estimated that since 17 July 2015, 2,738 offenders have been convicted 
and sentenced, having committed at least one previous knife or weapons possession 
offence.   
 
 
 
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
YE Q2 2009
YE Q2 2016
YE Q2 2009
YE Q2 2016
Caution
Absolute/ condtional discharge
Fine
Community sentence
Suspended sentence
Immediate custody
Other
No previous offences
One or more previous offences

10 
 
Of those 2,531 were adults, of which 57% received an immediate custodial sentence 
with an average sentence length of 7.2 months, and an additional 22% received a 
suspended custodial sentence. On average these adult offenders have 1.7 previous 
occasions where they were either convicted or cautioned for a knife possession 
offence. 95% of adult offenders who received an immediate custodial sentence 
pleaded guilty and received an average sentence length of 7.1 months, this was 10.0 
months for those pleading not guilty.   
The remaining 207 cases were offenders aged 16 or 17, 46% of these received a 
community sentence and 43% received an immediate custodial sentence with an 
average sentence length of 6.2 months. On average these offenders have 1.3 
previous occasions where they were either convicted or cautioned for a knife 
possession offence. The proportion of 16 to 17 year olds getting a community 
sentence is higher than that of adults, because a non custodial sentence may be 
given where the offender pleads guilty (96% pleaded guilty in this period, and young 
offenders cannot receive a custodial sentence of less than four months in the Youth 
Court).  
On average knife possession offences take 91days from the date of being charged to 
court outcome, and in some cases this can be much longer. At this stage it is not 
possible to assess the impact of the legislation introduced on 17th July 2015 based 
on the 350 days of data which are currently available. For more information about 
these new sentencing guidelines please see Annex C. 
 
Offenders in prison for knife possession offences 
 
886 offenders were in prison serving a sentence for knife possession offence on  1st  
July 2016, 1% increase on the previous quarter. This quarterly trend has continued to 
increase after the change in data available on 30th June 2015, however the weekly 
data seen in figure 3 shows more volatility.  
 

11 
 
Figure 3: Prison population under sentence for possession of an offensive 
weapon7 (excludes recalls) in England and Wales, between January 2008 and 
June 2016   
 
 
                                            
7 Includes having an article with a blade or a point. 
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Jan-08
Mar-08
May-08
Jul-08
Sep-08
Nov-08
Jan-09
Mar-09
May-09
Jul-09
Sep-09
Nov-09
Jan-10
Mar-10
May-10
Jul-10
Sep-10
Nov-10
Jan-11
Mar-11
May-11
Jul-11
Sep-11
Nov-11
Jan-12
Mar-12
May-12
Jul-12
Sep-12
Nov-12
Jan-13
Mar-13
May-13
Jul-13
Sep-13
Nov-13
Jan-14
Mar-14
May-14
Jul-14
Sep-14
Nov-14
Jan-15
Mar-15
May-15
Jul-15
Sep-15
Nov-15
Jan-16
Mar-16
May-16
Number of prisoners under immediate custodial sentence
Due to technical problems relating to the supply of statistical information, it is not possible to provide figures from July 2009 to March 2010
2009
2010
2014
2013
2012
2008
2015
2011
2016

12 
 
Annex A: List of Accompanying Tables 
Accompanying this publication are the following tables  
Table 1 
Knife possession offences resulting in a caution or sentence, in 
England and Wales, annually from year ending June 2009 and 
quarterly from Q4 2007 
 
 
 
Table 1a 
Knife possession offences resulting in a caution or sentence by offence 
type, in England and Wales, annually from year ending June 2009 and 
quarterly from Q4 2007 
Table 2 
Knife possession offences resulting in a caution or sentence by age 
group, in England and Wales, annually from year ending June 2009 
and quarterly from Q4 2007 
Table 2a 
Offences involving the possession of a knife or offensive weapon 
resulting in a caution or sentence by age group, in England and Wales, 
annually from year ending June 2009 and quarterly from Q4 2007 
Table 2b 
Offences involving threatening with a knife or offensive weapon 
resulting in a caution or sentence by age group, in England and Wales, 
annually from year ending June 2014 and quarterly from Q4 2012 
Table 3 
Knife possession offences resulting in an immediate custodial 
sentence, in England and Wales, annually from year ending June 2009 
and quarterly from Q4 2007 
Table 4 
Knife possession offences resulting in a caution or sentence by police 
force area, in England and Wales, annually from year ending June 
2009 
Table 5 
Number of previous convictions or cautions for the possession of a 
knife or offensive weapon offences for offenders convicted or cautioned 
for a knife possession offence by disposal category and age group, in 
England and Wales, annually from year ending June 2009 
Table 5a 
Number of previous convictions or cautions for the possession of a 
knife or offensive weapon offences for offenders convicted or cautioned 
for a possession of a knife or offensive weapon offence by disposal 
category and age group, in England and Wales, annually from year 
ending June 2009 
Table 5b 
Number of previous convictions or cautions for the possession of a 
knife or offensive weapon offences for offenders convicted or cautioned 
for threatening with a knife or offensive weapon offence by disposal 
category and age group, in England and Wales, annually from year 
ending June 2013  

13 
 
Annex B: Key Events 
The key events that might be expected to affect the statistics in this bulletin were: 
 
 On 21 May 2008, the Court of Appeal issued the judgment in Povey8 that said, 
because of prevalence, magistrates should normally sentence those convicted of 
knife crime possession offences at the top end of the range. 
 
 The Sentencing Guidelines Council issued an update to the magistrates’ courts 
guidelines, with effect from 4 August 2008, which set out the effect of the Court of 
Appeal judgment and made it clear that the starting point for the lowest level of 
knife possession amongst adults should be 12 weeks’ custody. This applies in 
cases where a first time offender pleads not guilty to possession of a knife in non-
dangerous circumstances. A guilty plea would attract a discount in the normal 
way, as would any personal mitigation, and could take the sentence below the 
custody threshold. 
 
 From 3 December 2012, new offences of aggravated knife possession came into 
force. Anyone aged 16 or over who uses a knife or offensive weapon to threaten 
and endanger others in a public place or in a school will face a minimum custodial 
sentence, unless the court considers there to be particular circumstances which 
would make it unjust to do so.9 
 
 In November 2013 revised guidance on cautions was issued. The guidance made 
it clear that simple cautions should not be given for possession of a knife, and 
other serious either way offences, unless their issue was signed off by at least an 
Inspector.  
 
 In April 2014, the Court of Appeal issued the judgment in Monterio10 that said the 
Youth Courts should maintain the sharp focus called for in Povey7 by imposing 
appropriate sentences that will contribute to preventing further offending and to a 
reduction in knife crime. 
 
 Statutory restrictions around the use of cautions, including their use for 
possession of a knife, included in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 201511, 
came into force in April 2015. 
 
 
 
                                            
8 Povey & Ors, R. v, Court of Appeal - Criminal Division, May 21, 2008, [2008] EWCA Crim 1261. 
9 For legislation, see:  www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/10/contents/enacted  
10 Monterio & Others, R. v, Court of Appeal - Criminal Division, April 16, 2014, [2014] EWCA Crim 747. 
11See section 17 at 
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428204/cjc-act-circular.pdf 

14 
 
 On 17 July 2015 Section 28 and Schedule 5 to the Criminal Justice and Courts 
Act 2015 came into force12. This introduced a minimum custodial sentence for 
those aged 16 or over who are convicted of a second offence of possessing an 
offensive weapon or bladed article. The minimum custodial sentence is six 
months for those aged 18 or over and a four month detention and training order 
for 16 and 17 year olds.  
 
                                            
12 www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447961/second-strike-knife-
possession.pdf 
 

15 
 
Annex C: Repeat offences for knife possession 
 On 17 July 2015 a new minimum sentence for repeat knife possession came 
into force.    
 Section 28 of, and Schedule 5 to, the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 
(CJC Act) create a minimum custodial sentence for those aged 16 and over 
convicted of a second or subsequent offence of possession of a knife or 
offensive weapon.  
 The minimum custodial sentence for second or subsequent conviction is at 
least six months imprisonment for adults, and at least a four month Detention 
and Training Order (DTO) for 16 and 17 year olds. Aggravating and mitigating 
factors are applied subsequently. 
 A minimum custodial sentence can only be given on conviction of a second or 
subsequent offence where that offence is committed on or after the date of the 
commencement of these provisions. 
 Any relevant previous conviction will satisfy the ‘previous conviction’ condition 
for the imposition of the minimum sentence, regardless of when that prior 
offence was committed. (I.e. there this no time limit on when the first offence 
must have been committed.) 
 A previous conviction for threatening with a knife or offensive weapon counts 
as a ‘first strike’. 
 A conviction for an equivalent service offence counts as a ‘first strike’ for the 
purposes of the minimum sentence. 
 The judge must impose the minimum sentence unless there are particular 
circumstances which relate to the offence, the previous offence(s), or the 
offender which would make the imposition of the minimum sentence unjust in 
all the circumstances. 
 
It is possible some youths may not receive a custodial sentence. This is because a 4 
month DTO is the minimum custodial sentence available to judges when sentencing 
youths in any circumstance and if the court applies a reduction in sentence for a 
guilty plea then a non-custodial sentence will result. In the case of adults, where the 
court imposes the minimum sentence this can be reduced by up to 20% for an early 
guilty plea, resulting in a sentence of 4.8 months.   
 

16 
 
Annex D: Assessing the accuracy of estimation method 
During the development of the October to December (Q4) 2013 bulletin, a 
methodology was introduced to estimate the number and breakdown of disposals 
given for two types of knife possession offences: 
 possession offences of having an article with a blade or point in a public place or 
on school premises.  
 possession of offensive weapon without lawful authority or reasonable excuse in 
a public place or on school premises.  
This annex assesses the accuracy of this methodology. 
Whilst developing the bulletin significant changes were seen in the disposal figures 
from those initially published for each quarter when compared with those released 
over the following year. The main reason for this change was that the data held on 
the Police National Computer (PNC) is updated with new information each month for 
not only the current month, but also for all previous months included in the PNC 
dataset. This difference was particularly noticeable for the number of immediate 
custodial sentences and other disposals. Initial investigations showed that the scale 
of the changes over time was stable, and so a new methodology was introduced to 
predict these final sentencing figures for the most recent four quarters. 
Table 1 below illustrates the accuracy of the estimation process that was used to 
provide the statistics that were published for Q2 2015 by comparing non-estimated 
and estimated figures by disposal group with the actual figures published one (Q2 
2016) year on. 
Table 1: Changes in the number of disposals reported for knife possession 
offences in Q2 2015 between the non-estimated, estimated and final actual 
figures  
  
As outlined above, figures show that there were large differences between the non-
estimated and the actual final figures for those receiving an immediate custodial 
sentence or other disposal, with differences of 16% and 43% respectively. However, 
Disposal category
Q2 2015 non 
estimated 
figures
Q2 2015 
estimated 
figures
Q2 2015 actual 
figures
% change - non 
estimated to 
actual figures
% change - 
estimated to 
actual figures
Caution
605
614
626
3
2
Absolute/Conditional discharge
110
120
111
1
-8
Fine
178
192
188
6
-2
Community sentence
1,103
1077
1,075
-3
0
Suspended sentence
732
725
745
2
3
Immediate custody
1,048
1254
1,214
16
-3
Other disposal
369
187
212
-43
13
All disposals
4,145
4,169
4,171
1
0

17 
 
when the estimated figures are compared with the actual final figures for these two 
disposal categories there is less change, with difference of 3% and 13% respectively.  
The biggest impact/change is seen in an increase in the figures for immediate 
custody and related decrease in the ‘other disposal category’.  
This showed that the methodology being used had been successful in predicting the 
changes seen in disposals over the year and so it was decided that future bulletins 
would continue to use this methodology for the most recent four quarters.  
We continue to review this methodology and provide updates on the accuracy of our 
estimates. In the future we are going to be looking into extending this estimation 
methodology for the threatening offences.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

18 
 
Annex E: Explanatory notes 
Data quality and sources 
Tables 1 to 5b  
The statistics presented in tables 1 to 5b in this bulletin are drawn from an extract of 
data held on the Police National Computer (PNC) as at 5th August 2016. 
The PNC is a large administrative database containing information about police 
cautions and court convictions held by individual offenders in England and Wales. As 
an administrative system, the PNC is regularly updated as new information about 
particular individuals becomes available. For example, an offender with previous 
convictions may have recently been charged with another offence, appeared in court 
against this charge and then been subsequently convicted of this offence. This 
information would then be updated accordingly against that individual’s record in the 
PNC.  
As these updates involve some element of manual data entry alongside more 
automated systems, there can be delays in the database becoming updated with the 
latest information about an offender’s convictions. As such, the number of 
cautions/convictions recorded in the PNC extract for knife possession offences, in 
particular for the most recent quarter included in this bulletin, is likely to be lower than 
the actual number of cautions/convictions given in the period.  
In addition, the different disposals recorded in the PNC extract for knife possession 
offences in recent quarters are also subject to some change. This is partly due to the 
delays in updating recent court outcomes on the PNC, but is also due to the fact that, 
while some individuals will have been convicted of a knife possession offence in a 
magistrate’s court during the quarter, information about the disposal they received is 
not yet available as the case has been passed to the Crown Court for sentencing at a 
later date. These cases will be updated when information about the final sentence 
given for the offence becomes available.  
As a result of these updates, the statistics presented in this bulletin for the most 
recent four quarters are based on estimates as described in Annex D. 
Data for figure 3   
Prison population data presented in this bulletin are drawn from the prison 
administrative IT systems. The figures showing the numbers under sentence refer to 
the number of offenders serving a custodial sentence. Figures drawn from PNC data 
refer to the number of offences committed by offenders given particular disposals. 
Prison establishments routinely provide records of the numbers of persons held in 
custody at the end of each month, broadly subdivided according to age, sex, custody 
type and sentence length. The records are collated and processed centrally. 
However, data recorded by prisons only show the numbers serving a sentence for 
the general offence of “possession of an offensive weapon” until 30 June 2015. This 
offence includes the possession of a knife but can also include possession of other 
dangerous weapons (excluding firearms). After the 30 June 2015 due to 
improvements in IT more detailed information about the prison population is now 

19 
 
available. This means that records from the prisons now show the numbers serving a 
sentence for offences relating to the possession of an offensive weapon and bladed 
or sharply pointed articles. 
Due to technical problems relating to the supply of data for statistical purposes it has 
not been possible to provide data relating to the prison population for specific offence 
types from July 2009 to March 2010.  
 

20 
 
Annex F: Other knife and sharp object related statistical 
released 
Other government departments also release statistics relating to knives and sharp 
objects. Below are some links and brief outlines of other available sources. 
 The Home Office provide a guidance document regarding the law for knives and 
offensive weapons. 
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/186911/K
nives_and_offensive_weapons_information_GDS_FAQ.pdf 
www.gov.uk/find-out-if-i-can-buy-or-carry-a-knife  
 The Home Office also publish statistics of offences involving knives and sharp 
instruments. This is contained within the Crime in England and Wales statistical 
bulletin and has a section called Offences involving knives and sharp instruments. 
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimei
nenglandandwales/yearendingmar2016#offences-involving-weapons 
 The MOJ publishes information on criminal court timeliness (Table T6) –  statistics 
relating to the  activity or how quickly  criminal cases  are dealt with in the 
magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales.  
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-
january-to-march-2016 
 The Department for Health release hospital admission data for assaults on an ad 
hoc basis. Within this data there is a category for X99 - Assault by sharp object. 
The link for the most recently released publication is listed below and the data can 
usually be found in the Monthly HES data – Monthly topic of interest section of the 
HES online website. 
www.hscic.gov.uk/hes 
Additional information: 
data.gov.uk/dataset/provisional-monthly-hospital-episode-statistics-for-admitted-
patient-care-outpatient-and-accident 
 

21 
 
Annex G: Glossary 
Adult: An offender aged 18 and over. 
Caution: A warning given to adult offenders who admit guilt and agree to be 
cautioned. They are issued on the instructions of a senior police officer where there 
is sufficient evidence for a conviction and it is not considered to be in the public 
interest to institute criminal proceedings.  
Community sentence: An alternate to custodial sentence (sending offenders to 
prison) which allows offenders to make amends for their crimes. For juveniles the 
main community sentence used are the referral order and the Youth Rehabilitation 
Order (YRO). With a community sentence there are specific things the offender can, 
can’t and must do while serving their sentence. Elements of a community sentence 
include: Supervision, Unpaid work, Specified activities, Prohibited activities, 
Accredited programmes, Curfew, exclusion, Residence, Mental health treatment, 
Drug rehabilitation, Alcohol treatment and attendance centre requirement for under 
25s. 
England and Wales – Total figures for England and Wales now include all police 
forces in England and Wales and the British Transport Police (BTP). The Home 
Office is responsible for policing the 43 police forces in England and Wales. There 
are also other authorities who prosecute offenders such as: Department for Work and 
Pensions (DWP), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Ministry of Defence 
(MOD).  
Immediate custody: Unsuspended imprisonment for adults aged 21 or over and 
detention in a young offender institution for those aged 18 to 20. The maximum 
sentence available is 4 years. Juveniles aged 12 to 17 may receive a detention and 
training order of 4, 6, 8, 10,12, 18 or 24 months.  
Juvenile:  An offender between the ages 10 and 17. 
Offensive weapon: Any article made or adapted for use for causing injury to the 
person, or intended by the person having it with him for such.  Examples includes: a 
swordstick, a hollow walking-stick or cane containing a blade. 
Reprimand and warning: Issued to juvenile first time offenders for minor offences. 
Reprimand and warning for juveniles are equivalent of cautions for adults. These 
were replaced by youth cautions on April 8th 2013. 
Youth cautions: Introduced on April 8th 2013. They are formal out-of-court disposals 
for young offenders (aged 10 to 17) and intended to allow a more flexible response to 
offending than the preceding Final Warning Scheme. These now replace reprimands 
and warnings. 
Suspended Sentence: A custodial sentence of 6 months or less in magistrate’s 
courts and 2 years or less in the Crown Court, suspended for a period ranging from 
six months to two years available for adults only.  

22 
 
Contacts 
Press enquiries on the contents of this bulletin should be directed to the Ministry of 
Justice press office:  
 
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx  
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 
 
 
Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to the Justice Statistics 
Analytical Services division of the Ministry of Justice: 
 
 
Craig Medhurst  
Ministry of Justice 
Justice Statistical Analytical Services 
7th Floor 
102 Petty France 
London 
SW1H 9AJ 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 
 
General enquiries about the statistical work of the Ministry of Justice can be e-mailed 
to: xxx@xxx.xx  
 
General information about the official statistics system of the United Kingdom is 
available from statisticsauthority.gov.uk/about-the-authority/uk-statistical-system 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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