Number of women caught carrying knives has tripled over the past decade

The number of women and girls caught carrying knives has trebled in the last decade, according to new LBC research, with a sharp increase since the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

Shocking figures obtained by LBC show that 2790 women were caught carrying knives in 2023/24, up from fewer than 900 in 2014.

Activists believe that the dramatic rise in knife possession offences is connected to concerns surrounding women’s safety, which have been magnified by several high profile cases, including Everard’s murder by a serving Metropolitan Police Officer in 2021.

Indeed, the data suggests that the number of women arming themselves has risen by nearly a third since then.

Women’s confidence in policing plummeted in recent years, with a YouGov survey conducted in the months after Everard’s death indicating almost half of women lost trust in their force as a result of the case.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that the figures are ’stark and powerful.’

She acknowledged that women may carry knives because they fear abuse, but "either way", it is a crime.

Ms Cooper also sent a message to women who carry knives, saying: "Do not carry a knife. It’s dangerous, illegal, and it will just make violence worse."

For knife crime campaigner Pastor Lorraine Jones, this collapse in confidence is inextricable from the rise in the numbers carrying blades.

“As long as [women] are not feeling protected and safe,” Pastor Jones lamented, “sadly some will carry a knife. Every day I leave home, I leave with the reality that I might not return - because it’s that dangerous.”

Her concerns are supported by the statistics.

According to research from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, more than one million offences of violence against women and girls (VAWG) were recorded in 2022/23, accounting for one in five police-recorded crimes that year.

To combat this, the government has set an objective to halve the incidence of violence against women and girls over the next decade.

In 2022, Lady Elish Angiolini was commissioned to compile a report into the circumstances of how Wayne Couzens was able to abduct, murder and rape Ms Everard.

Whilst the first part of her inquiry found the Metropolitan Police missed multiple opportunities to stop Couzens, the second part, which is yet to be published, will explore what can be done to reduce the number of cases of VAWG.

Responding to LBC’s research, Lady Angiolini confirmed that she would be investigating what is causing more women to carry knives, and cautioned those thinking of doing so:

“It concerns me if people are carrying knives. However understandable that may seem because of the fear, I would caution them because it is a crime to carry a knife in those circumstances.

“The last thing we want to have is young women being criminalised as a result of the fear that they have.

“What we have to do is find solutions to make the streets of this country as safe as possible so they don’t have to take such dramatic measures to feel safe.”

Dramatic increases were recorded by a number of forces.

West Midlands Police, for example, noted a 54% hike in the number of women caught with a blade between 2021/22 and 2023/24.

Three forces - West Mercia, Staffordshire and Norfolk - saw cases more than double and one force, Cheshire, witnessed a near fourfold increase.

Alarmingly, under 18s comprised over a fifth of all cases over the same timeframe, the youngest being a five year-old child.

In London, more than 1,300 women were found to have committed a knife possession offence across the three-year period covered by LBC’s investigation - the most of any of the 38 forces to respond to our enquiries.

Presented with the data, Matt Twist, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, urged the public to engage with his officers rather than resort to arming themselves.

AC Twist said: “Carrying knives is not lawful - it’s not something people can defend by saying the police aren’t doing this or that. If people are concerned, call the police. If people are worried about crime, let us know and we can do something about it.”

James Smith