GovWire

This publication presents key statistics describing the trends in the number of offenders In England and Wales receiving cautions and convictions for:

• Possession of an article with a blade or point
• Possession of an offensive weapon, or
• Threatening with either type of weapon

Please note that cases still awaiting final decisions are no longer accounted for using estimation methodology. These are generally cases in the latest periods and are now counted as other disposals until final decisions are made unless separately specified.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• ODS format tables containing data on knife or offensive weapon offences up to September 2023
• 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, police identified ethnicity and prosecuting police force area. The data used in the tool is also included as a separate csv file.
• An interactiveSankeydiagramlooking at outcomes for offenders sentenced for these offences by whether or not they have a previous conviction or caution for possession of a blade, point or offensive weapon; which includes breakdowns by gender, age group and offence type.

We regularly carry out work to improve our statistics and geography breakdowns, therefore please refer to the latest publication for the most up-to-date figures. The bulletin was produced and handled by the ministrys analytical professionals and production staff.

Pre-release access

Prior to publication pre-release access of up to 24 hours was granted to the following persons:

Ministry of Justice:

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State covering sentencing; Permanent Secretary; Minister and Permanent Secretary Private Secretaries (x3); Special Advisors (x2); Senior Policy Advisor, Custodial Sentencing Policy Unit; Head of Youth Justice Policy; Head of News and relevant press officers (x3).

Home Office:

Home Secretary; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime and Policing; Minister Private Secretaries (x2); Policy Advisor, Serious Violence Unit; Head of Media and relevant press officers (x1).

Cabinet Office:

Crime and Justice lead