Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans to increase the length of prison sentences recommended for people caught in possession of bladed weapons in public.

Knife crime can have devastating consequences and the government is determined to take action to address serious violence. Sentencing is a matter for our independent judiciary but anyone who continues to carry a knife in public can expect to face a custodial sentence.

In 2015, Parliament agreed a minimum custodial sentence for a second or subsequent conviction for possession of a bladed article or offensive weapon. For adults, this is a minimum sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment whilst for 16 and 17 year olds the Act created a minimum custodial sentence of a 4 month Detention and Training Order (DTO). Since the introduction of the minimum custodial term people caught carrying a knife for a second time are now more likely than ever before to go to prison – recent statistics show that 83% of offenders received a custodial sentence for repeat possession offences in 2017.