Knife possession sentencing quarterly brief: July to September 2017
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.

Published 14 December 2017 
Knife Possession Sentencing Quarterly, England 
and Wales – July to September 2017 
Main points 
5,324 knife possession 
offences dealt with by the CJS 
A rise of 7% since Q3 2016. This increase has 
been driven by the increase in blade or point 
offences.  
Offenders cautioned or 
convicted of a knife possession 
offence are now more likely to 
receive some form of custody 
55% of offenders received some form of custody i.e. 
immediate custody or suspended sentence, when 
convicted or cautioned of knife possession offence. 
An increase from 27% in the year ending 
September 2008. 
6% of adult offences received a 
caution 
This was the lowest rate for adults since this 
publication series began, almost a decade ago. 
The average custodial sentence 
length was 7.7 months 
This has risen by 2.1 months since Q3 2008. With 
40% now sentenced to more than 6 months 
compared to 22% in Q3 2008. 
88% of adult repeat offenders 
received a custodial sentence 
This figure has increased by 5 percentage points 
when compared to Q3 2016 for offenders convicted 
under section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts 
Act 2015. 
 
Presented are key statistics describing the trends in the number of offenders receiving 
cautions and convictions for knife possession offences in England and Wales. Knife 
possession offences in this publication include offences involving the possession of a blade, 
point or offensive weapon and offences involving threatening with one of these types of 
weapon. It should be noted that figures for the latest quarter (July to September) are 
provisional.  
 
For the first time this publication is supported an interactive table tool. The tool provides 
further breakdowns including gender and ethnicity. Additionally, an informal consultation 
regarding proposed changes has been launched and can be found on page 5.  
 
 
We are changing how our quarterly bulletins look, and would welcome any 
feedback to xxx@xxx.xx 
For other feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at 
xxx@xxx.xx 

 
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1. Knife possession offences overview 
5,324 knife possession offences were formally dealt with by the Criminal Justice 
System (CJS) in Q3 2017 
The number of knife possession offences dealt with by the CJS has risen by 7% 
since Q3 2016. This change has been driven by the increase in the number of blade 
or point possession offences. 
 
Offenders cautioned or convicted of a knife possession offence are now more 
likely to receive some form of custody 
55% of offenders received some form of custody i.e. immediate custody or 
suspended sentence, when convicted or cautioned of knife possession offence. An 
increase from 27% in the year ending September 2008. 
Figure 1: Knife possession offences resulting in a caution or conviction by outcome, 
England and Wales, year ending September 2008 to year ending September 2017 
(Source: Table 1) 
 
 
Over time the proportion of offences resulting in an immediate custodial sentence has 
increased; in Q3 2017 it was 37% compared to just 23% in the same period in 2008. The 
average custodial sentence length also increased over this period from 5.6 months in Q3 
2008 to 7.7 months in Q3 2017. 
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Percentage of offences 
Year ending September
Non custodial Sentence
Custodial Sentence

 
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2. Cautions vs. Custodial sentences 
43% of adult offences and 12% of juvenile offences were given an immediate 
custodial sentence 
 
This represents an increase of 15 percentage points for adult offences and 4 
percentage points for juvenile offenders since Q3 2008. This is the highest rate for 
adults since the time series began in Q4 2007. 
6% of adult offences and 26% of juvenile offences received a caution 
 
These figures have fallen by 18 percentage points for adult offences and 11 
percentage points for juvenile offences since Q3 2008. This is the lowest rate for 
adults since the time series began in Q4 2007. 
The average custodial sentence length was 7.7 months 
 
This has risen by 2.1 months since Q3 2008. With 40% now sentenced to more than 6 
months compared to 22% in Q3 2008. 
Figure 2: Proportion of adult and juvenile offenders given cautions or immediate 
custodial sentences for knife possession offences in England and Wales, Q3 2008 to 
Q3 2017 (Source: Table 2) 
 
The most common disposal for a knife possession offence received by adults continues to 
be immediate custody (43%) followed by suspended sentence (25%) and community 
sentence (15%). For juveniles, the most common disposals were community sentence 
(55%), caution (26%) and immediate custody (12%). 
Of sentencing occasions in the year ending September 2017 involving a knife possession 
offence, 72% had no previous possession offences involving a blade, point or offensive 
weapon. This has fallen 8 percentage points since the year ending September 2008 (80%).  

 
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3. Minimum sentencing for repeat offences involving 
possession of a knife or offensive weapon offences 
88% of adult repeat offenders received a custodial sentence 
 
This figure has increased by 5 percentage points when compared to Q3 2016 for 
offenders convicted under section 28 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 20151. 
Figure 3: Repeat knife possession sentencing or cautioning occasions involving an 
adult offender, by disposal type, in Q3 2016 and Q3 2017 (Source: Table 5) 
 
8,327 repeat knife possession sentencing or cautioning occasions have been identified 
under this act since it was introduced in July 2015.  There has been an increase in the 
number of cases from 1,094 in Q3 2016 to an estimated 1,195 in Q3 2017.  
 
Of the 1,195 occasions, 1,103 involved an adult offender, 65% of which resulted in 
immediate custodial sentence which has increased by 5 percentage points since Q3 2016. 
An additional 24% received a suspended sentence order, which has increased by 1 
percentage points since Q3 2016.  
For those adults receiving immediate custody the average sentence length in Q3 2017 was 
7.6 months, and was 6.8 months for 16 and 17 year olds. 
The remaining 92 occasions involved offenders who were aged 16 or 17; 41% resulted in an 
immediate custodial sentence and 50% resulted in a community sentence. The proportion 
receiving a community sentence has gone up by 2 percentage points since Q3 2016, and 
down by 6 percentage points over the same period for immediate custody.  
The proportion of 16 to 17 year olds receiving a community sentence is higher than that of 
adults because this form of non-custodial sentence may be given where the young offender 
pleads guilty2. 
                                                 
1 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/2/part/1/crossheading/repeat-offences-involving-offensive-weapons-
etc 
2 91% of 16 to 17 year olds pleaded guilty in this period, and young offenders cannot receive a custodial 
sentence of less than four months in the Youth Court 
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Q3 2016
Q3 2017
Percentage of sentencing occasions
Immediate custody
Suspended sentences
Other disposals

 
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Further information 
The data presented in this publication are provisional. Figures provided for more recent 
quarters are subject to change in future publications as ongoing cases pass through the 
Criminal Justice System. 
A technical guide providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, 
as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to knife possession 
sentencing can be found at 
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly  
 
Accompanying files 
As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release: 
• 
Excel tables containing data on knife possession offences up to Q3 2017 
• 
An interactive table tool to look at previous offences involving possession of a blade, 
point or offensive weapon. The tool provides further breakdowns by gender and 
police identified ethnicity. 
• 
A Sankey diagram looking at outcomes of those offenders sentenced for knife 
possession offences. The diagram provides further breakdowns by gender and 
offence type.   
    
Official Statistics status 
Official statistics are produced under the remit of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. 
They are produced impartially and are free from political influence. More information can be 
found on the UK Statistics Authority website, accessible via the link below. 
https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/monitoring-and-assessment/code-of-practice/ 
 
Changes to future bulletins 
From March 2018, it is intended to expand this publication to include: details around plea; 
other offences dealt with at the same time as knife possession offences; information on the 
number of offenders; number of offences committed in the period; and the number of times 
an individual is formerly dealt with at court or cautioned i.e. sentencing occasions. The 
publication will also be renamed to ‘Knife and Offensive Weapon Sentencing Statistics’, to 
better reflect the coverage of the offences included.  
We would welcome any feedback on the inclusion of this additional information and change 
in publication name. Please send any response by 19th January 2018 to 
xxx@xxx.xx 
 
Contact 
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office: 
Tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx  

 
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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, 7th Floor, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ 
Email: xxx@xxx.xx 
 
Next update: 8 March 2018 
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/knife-possession-sentencing-quarterly  
 
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Produced by the Ministry of Justice 
Alternative formats are available on request from xxx@xxx.xx