Dramatic drop in knife crime offenders being jailed in Bedfordshire revealed by Ministry of Justice figures - despite rise in crime

Fewer knife crime offenders in Bedfordshire were sentenced to prison last year, figures reveal.

But Beds Police says it takes knife crime “incredibly seriously” – and is working hard to get weapons off the streets.

Anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said it is "extremely worrying" to see fewer criminals being sent to prison across England and Wales, despite a rise in knife crime.

Ministry of Justice figures show that 174 knife and offensive weapon offenders were cautioned or convicted in Bedfordshire in the year to March – with just 47 (27%) resulting in immediate custody.

This was down from 38% in 2020-21, and from 39% in 2019-20, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, 11% of offences resulted in a caution, 23% in a community sentence, 26% in a suspended sentence and 12% in another form of disposal.

Across England and Wales, the proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence fell from 36% in 2019-20, to just 29% last year.

This comes despite a 2015 policy of “two strikes and you’re out” – where repeat offenders would face a minimum six-month prison sentence for carrying a knife.

The figures also show that 19,555 knife crime offences nationwide resulted in a caution or conviction in 2021-22 – which is still below pre-pandemic levels, but a 5% rise on the previous year.

As a result, the rate of offences rose from 35 per 100,000 people to 37 year-on-year.

MoJ statisticians said the latest figures are impacted by the effects of the pandemic – including the impact of lockdowns, changes to court arrangements, the re-opening of courts and the types of cases which were prioritised.

However, Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: "It is extremely worrying to see that knife crime offences are rising while fewer criminals are being sent to prison for their crimes.

"While Covid restrictions will have accounted for some of the variation, it is concerning to see that this trend has continued since restrictions were lifted.

"We need greater investment in the court process to reduce the length of time it takes for a case to get to court."

In Bedfordshire, the rate of knife offences was 33 per 100,000 people last year – up from 28 in 2020-21.

Bedfordshire’s Assistant Chief Constable Sharn Basra said: “We take knife crime incredibly seriously and this includes focusing on perpetrators and getting as many knives and weapons as we can off the streets of Bedfordshire.

“We are working incredibly hard to tackle knife crime and recorded levels of serious youth violence dropped to their lowest level this year in August.

“We also know we can’t arrest our way out of this problem and so have a keen focus on prevention by working with partners, including the Violence and Exploitation Reduction Unit to provide specialist support and opportunities for young people and their families. Last May, more

than 1,800 knives were recovered in Bedfordshire following a proactive week of action dedicated to driving down knife crime in the county.”