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A record proportion of offenders being convicted of a knife offence are coming up before the courts for the second, third and fourth time, the Ministry of Justice reveals. It has sparked calls for tougher sentencing and a focus on rehabilitation programmes.

Former Conservative MP Nick de Bois, who tried to get tougher knife sentencing laws pushed through Parliament, said: “For many youths today, the culture is that whatever issue they are confronted with, the use of a knife is the first response. They have no belief they will be held to account for their actions. It’s time to change that. We need a comprehensive shake-up, starting with longer mandatory sentences for carrying a knife.

“And when we incarcerate these criminals we shouldn’t just warehouse them in a jail.

“We should create detention centres where they undergo a rigorous regime that teaches them respect, discipline and a work ethic. That’s their opportunity for a second chance.

“At the same time we need to tackle access to knives. It’s still absurdly easy to buy these weapons.” Separate statistics show the number of knife killings was 257 in the year to September. Meanwhile, criminals armed with knives were responsible for 607 rape attacks and more than 15,000 muggings.

Public anxiety about knife crime has grown in recent years as the toll of young men killed in stabbings, particularly in London, rises.

In 2020 there were 14,015 people brought before the courts for a variety of knife offences, a fall of 17 percent thought to be due to Covid lockdowns.

Of those offenders, 4,102 already had a conviction for a knife offence and for 607 of them this court appearance was their fourth for a knife crime.

In just six years the number of repeat knife offenders has increased 33 percent – from 3,073 to 4,102 – while the number of hardcore offenders on knife offence number four has surged by 40 percent, from 434 to 607.

Separate figures show that in the past year police recorded 42,913 serious crimes linked to people with knives – more than 100 a day and up by 27 percent over the past 10 years.

The Government introduced a “twostrikes” law for knife crime in 2015, with any adult caught with a blade for a second time facing a six-month jail term.

Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, said: “The criminal justice system is failing to deal with repeat knife crime offenders.These figures are alarming.

“Repeat offending rates have been rising since 2015 and yet nothing appears to have been done to address this serious problem.”

The Government said: “While judges decide sentences, those caught carrying a knife are more likely to be sent to jail than they were a decade ago and new laws will see more repeat offenders face time behind bars.”

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