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<p>For possession or threatening with an offensive weapon or possession of an article
with a blade or point offences, offenders are now more likely to receive an immediate
custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence and to go to prison for
longer than at any point over the past 10 years. In the year ending March 2019 over
a third (37%) of offences resulted in immediate custody, compared to 22% in the year
ending March 2009. The average length of immediate custodial sentences has increased
from 5.5 months in the year ending March 2009 to 8.1 months in the year ending March
2019. This is the highest since the series began.</p><p>There are a range of offences
available to prosecute knife crime and Parliament has set penalties that are proportionate
to the nature of these serious offences.</p><p> </p><p>Unlawful possession of a knife
or offensive weapon in public is a serious criminal offence with a maximum penalty
of four years’ imprisonment. Since 2015, adults convicted of threatening with a knife
in public, or for second or subsequent knife possession face a minimum sentence of
6 months’ imprisonment and young people aged 16 or 17 face a minimum sentence of a
4 month Detention and Training Order. Courts can only depart from minimum sentencing
if the court considers would be unjust in all the circumstances to impose these terms.</p><p>
</p><p>Where someone is physically injured by a knife or offensive weapon there are
a range of other offences, such as causing grievous bodily harm, that the person may
be charged with. These can result in lengthy determinate sentences or life imprisonment.
In England and Wales, all murder convictions for adults must result in a life sentence,
and the Criminal Justice Act 2003 sets out a starting point of a minimum term in prison
of 25 years for offenders aged 18 and over who bring a knife or another weapon to
the scene of a murder with the intention of using it.</p><p> </p><p>It is already
the case that for offences where the possession or use of a knife or offensive weapon
is not inherent to the offence or charged separately, possession will be treated as
an aggravating factor, which increases the seriousness of the offence. This is outlined
in several sentencing guidelines produced by the independent Sentencing Council.</p>
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