ESSEX has recorded more knife crimes than Liverpool, Newcastle, and all of Wales, despite the number of offences falling in the most recent calendar year, figures show.

According to the most recent publicly available data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Essex Police recorded a total of 1,660 knife and sharp instrument offences – the fifth highest in England – between the 12-month period running from July 2022 to June 2023.

More knife crimes were committed in London than any other area of the UK, with the Metropolitan Police recording 13,503 knife and sharp instrument offences in the same period.

West Midlands Police, which covers Birmingham, recorded 4,724 knife offences, with Greater Manchester Police recording 3,012.

Gazette: Prevalent – though knife crime is falling, there was a serious stabbing in Queen Street last weekPrevalent – though knife crime is falling, there was a serious stabbing in Queen Street last week (Image: Newsquest)

West Yorkshire Police, which covers Leeds, recorded 2,340 offences.

The ONS data showed that Essex Police’s recording of 1,660 offences places the area fifth highest in the UK for knife crime offences – ahead of Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, and the entirety of Wales.

The number of offences recorded is also significantly higher than it was during the 12-month period from April 2018 to March 2019, when the overall number of knife crime offences in Essex sat at 1,164.

There was then a significant jump in offences between April 2019 and March 2020, when the number recorded was 1,794.

Since then, the number of offences has sat around the 1,500 mark, with ONS figures for July 2022 to June 2023 recorded at 1,660.

Gazette: Statistics – Essex Police said the majority of people in Essex will not be a victim of knife crimeStatistics – Essex Police said the majority of people in Essex will not be a victim of knife crime (Image: Essex Police)

In the most recent calendar year, however, the rate of knife and sharp instrument offences has fallen, Essex Police has said.

A spokesman for the force said that more recent figures, which have not been published yet by the Office for National Statistics, and run from January 2023 to December 2023, show a fall in knife crime 11 per cent.

He said: “Knife crime is not rising in Essex, in fact offences are very rare in our county. There are 89 serious offences involving sharp instruments/knives per 100,000 people.

"The vast majority of people in Essex have not been, and will not be, a victim of knife crime.

"Using the most recently available figures, for the end of December 2023 knife enabled crime in Essex has fallen year on year by 11.2 per cent, with 190 fewer offences.

"During the summer of 2022 (Q2, 2022/3) we did see a spike in knife enabled crime, with 465 incidents being recorded, incident numbers prior to and following that period were much-reduced.

"Between January and December 2022, there were 1,680 knife enabled crimes recorded in Essex, which was 188 fewer than 2021, a reduction of 11.06 per cent.

"Our knife crime recording processes are thorough and we’ve been praised for our work in that area.

"We are effectively tackling knife crime through our proactive approach around our nationally celebrated ‘Operation Grip’.

"It is a scientific and statistically backed operation which helps us to understand specific areas in our county with a higher probability of a serious, violent incident taking place. These areas are subject to regular highly visible patrols and have helped to drive down incidents of serious violence.

"These patrols are also instrumental, not only in proactively finding people who are carrying knives, but also identifying people who are most at risk of either being exploited of being injured."