London's violent crime wave exposed as knife and gun offences leap 20%

Numbers will prompt significant concern with the rise in knife offending driven by a 34 per cent increase in blade robberies
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Knife and gun crime in London both leapt by 20 per cent last year amid a surge in blade robberies, teenage homicides and firearms offending, official figures revealed today.

The Office for National Statistics said that 14,626 knife offences were recorded by police in the capital over the 12 months to the end of last December.

That was 2,481 more knife crimes than the 2022 total and meant that an average of 40 blade offences were committed each day in the capital last year.

There was also a big leap in gun crimes with 1,208 such offences during 2023, up by nearly 200 on the 1,010 recorded by police a year earlier.

Both statistics will prompt significant concern with the rise in knife offending driven by a 34 per cent increase in blade robberies, which totalled 8,956 in 2023.

There was also a 6 per cent rise in knife offences that either resulted in an injury or were carried out with the intent to commit serious harm. Knifepoint rapes and other sexual assaults totalled 193, slightly down on the 2022 figure of 208. But attempted murders with a blade were up 29 per cent from 49 in 2022 to 63 last year. 

Knife killings also rose to 72, one more fatality than the previous year, knife killings rose by one, to 72, and included 18 teenage blade homicide victims. 

Thursday’s figures also show that there has been a 38 per cent increase in knife crime in London since Mayor Sadiq Khan took office eight years ago.

The rise is the difference between the 9,086 knife crimes recorded in the capital in the year to the end of March 2016 and the 2023 total of 14,626 and equates to 5,540 extra blade crimes – an extra 15 per day – in the past year compared to the 2016 tally.

The issue of knife crime and the extent of offending in London has become a key issue in the Mayoral election campaign with Tory candidate Susan Hall accusing Mr Khan of failure.

The Mayor has responded by blaming government cuts for some of the problems and pointing out that injuries from violent crime to the under 25s have fallen.

Commenting on the figures, Ms Hall said: “Knife crime is out of control in Sadiq Khan's London and he is just not listening.

“I am listening to Londoners, which is why I will recruit 1,500 more police, bring back borough-based policing and give every frontline officer knife detection wands so we can get more knives off our streets.”

Asked on Thursday if he takes any responsibility for the most recent rise in these crimes, Mr Khan said: “It’s really important that we do what we can to address the complex causes of crime, as well as crime itself.

“That’s why for some time we’ve been investing in the police but also investing in young people as well. I spend too much time, both as an MP and now as mayor, speaking to bereaved families and victims of crime.

“The causes of crime are complex, but actually straightforward - deprivation, poverty, alienation, lack of opportunity. You’ve got to deal with those. That’s why we’re investing in youth clubs.

“At the same time, you’ve got to be tough on crime, you’ve got to invest in the police.

“We’ve made some progress. So according to the ONS, you’re less likely to be a victim of violence in London than the rest of the country. According to the ONS, you’re less likely to be injured in London, than the rest of the country.”

He said that if he is re-elected, and if Labour form the next Government, he looks forward to making “more progress”.

He added: “We’ve increased by more than double the amount of investment in the police - £1.148billion. We now contribute 27 per cent towards the police, it used to be 19 per cent when I became mayor.

“We can’t carry on doing this, with one hand tied behind my back. We need Government support.”