The number of children being seriously hurt by knives in England and Wales rose 47 per cent in just 10 years, a new report has found.
The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) warned in its latest report that serious violence involving knives has increased significantly in recent years, impacting some of Britain’s most deprived communities the most.
The London-based non-profit noted that police have ‘failed’ to solve most crimes, investigating only nine per cent of cases successfully, down from 25 per cent ten years ago – as funding for essential resources aimed at prevention have dried up.
The report notes spending on young people’s services has ‘more than halved’ since 2012-13, with many more children finding themselves in care, in absolute poverty or being referred to mental health services – weakening the ‘safety nets’ in place to support the most vulnerable.
Black children were more than six times more likely to be murdered compared to their share of the population in 2022-23 – a difference that has ‘narrowed’ recently, but remains worse than it was ten years ago.
Pharrell Garcia, aged just 15, was found collapsed in Hackney this week after being stabbed
Nottinghamshire has seen the highest rate of violent offences by children per capita
While hospital admissions have been coming down, they remain higher than a decade ago
The harrowing report claims that while homicides, hospitalisations for knife assault and violent offending by children have all fallen below their pre-Covid levels, the rates remain high compared to where they were in the early 2010s.
In 2023-23, 99 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 were victims of homicide, up from 87 in 2012-13.
This follows a wider uptick in violence since the start of the last decade, correlated closely with a drop in funding for vital services designed to help young people away from violent crime.
Homicides of 16-24 year olds spiked in 2017-18, up 69 per cent from 2012-13’s figures.
The number of 0-17 year olds admitted to hospital for knife assault likewise rose significantly through the late 2010s, nearly doubling from 2012-13 to 2018-19.
While the overall trend shows figures falling in the last couple of years, the YEF raises concerns that homicides and hospital admissions remained higher than they did 10 years ago – up 14 per cent and 47 per cent respectively.
Boys are disproportionately affected by the violence, remaining mostly unchanged.
In 2022-23, men accounted for 83 per cent of children cautioned or convicted for violent offences.
91 per cent of all children being admitted to hospital for knife assaults were young boys in this period, the report found.
While London recorded the highest sheer number of violent offences committed by children between 2021-22 and 2022-23, Nottinghamshire recorded the most per 100,000 people.
Population-dense London recorded 320 violent offences by children in the period – behind North Wales (324/100,000), West Yorks (363/100,000) and Notts (383/100,000).
‘Although London ranks highest for the total number of young people involved in violence, it’s shown relatively greater decreases in recent years compared to other areas,’ the authors noted.
‘In 2022/23, proven violent offending by children in London was 38% down compared to the year before Covid-19 (2019/20) – a larger decrease than almost three-quarters (74%) of all police force areas.’
Of immediate concern – with absolute poverty and inequality increasing since the pandemic towards ‘Victorian Age’ levels – knife crime appears to hit the poorest areas of England and Wales the hardest.
Children living in the most deprived police force areas are 2.5 times more likely to be exposed to violent crime than those in the least deprived areas.
While stopping short of pronouncing causation, the report correlates the concerning trends with the unavailability of safety nets designed to protect children from violence.
‘There are signs of stretched services, financial pressures and increasing numbers of children in need of support,’ the report concludes, pointing to a dearth of resources in the youth sector, education, health and children’s services.
Spending on services for young people in England has halved in the last decade, down by more than £500,000 since 2012-13 in real terms.
Jon Yates, executive director at the Youth Endowment Fund said: ‘If we want to cut knife crime and ensure that the next decade is safer for our children than the last, we need to focus our efforts and resources on the strategies that we know work.
‘With the right support and opportunities, we can make our communities safer and help all children live a life free from violence.’
The YEF observes that since Covid, schools are still facing challenges with unauthorised absences.
Persistent absence rates reached 21 per cent in 2022-23.
More than a million children in England and Wales were also referred to mental health services – a figure that jumped sharply after the pandemic.
‘Unfortunately, NHS services are struggling to cope with demand, leading to longer waiting lists and children being unable to access support when they need it.’
Police, notably, have had less success investigating related crimes.
In 2012-13, one in four recorded crimes led to a charge, summons or out-of-court disposal.
But ten years on, the figure had fallen to just nine per cent.
The YEF concludes there is ‘growing evidence about what works to prevent violence’, despite the trends, and urges use of approaches ‘such as mentoring, therapies and hot spot policing’ to prevent violence.
They suggest children committing low-level or first-time offences would benefit from targeted and timely support rather than criminal records to prevent reoffending.
The harrowing report comes as the Met Police arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of murder on Wednesday after 15-year-old Pharrell Garcia was found collapsed on the ground in Hackney, London having suffered fatal stab wounds on Tuesday.
The horrific incident took place on the grounds of a block of flats next to Benthal Primary School, where Pharrell had been a pupil before going on to secondary school.
Two friends from his school told of how Pharrell had been visiting a friend who lives in the area, and was about to leave on a Lime bike he had rented when someone ‘tried to rob him’.
They said Pharrell had tried to run, but the robber ‘banged him on the head’ before stabbing him in the lungs, causing him to suffocate.
It is understood he had gone to the area to pick up his sister from the primary school, before then meeting his friend.
Pharrell was tragically killed in Hackney on Tuesday amid a recent high in knife violence
A forensic tent at the scene on the grounds of a block of flats next to Benthal Primary School
Two friends from his school told of how Pharrell had been visiting a friend who lives in the area, and was about to leave on a Lime bike he had rented when someone ‘tried to rob him’. (File)
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has blamed the rising trend of knife crime on the former Tory government, promising things will change under Labour.
‘We can’t carry on like this. This Labour government will put neighbourhood police back on the beat in our town centres, with stronger laws on knife crime, shoplifting and assaults on shop workers to keep our communities safe,’ she said.
Ms Cooper previously put forward a new ‘tough love’ youth programme targeting those most at risk and delivering support for young people struggling with mental health issues.
The policy ‘will draw’ on a fund of up to £100mn a year to identify those most at risk, develop a national network of Young Futures hubs, and to reinforce existing measures deemed effective.
The Crest think tank estimates as many as 200,000 children are vulnerable to serious violence, a record number.
Separately, the ONS found this week that knife-enabled crime recorded by police in the year ending March 2024 had increased by four per cent (50,510 offences) year-on-year (up from 48,409 offences).
