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<p>The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number
of cases relating to knife crime incidents that have not resulted in a successful
prosecution. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files,
which would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p>National figures on selected offences
involving a knife or sharp instrument may be obtained from the <em>Crime in England
and Wales Bulletin Tables</em> published by the Office of National Statistics.</p><p>National
figures on the numbers of prosecutions and outcomes for specific criminal offences
including possession of weapons may be obtained from the official statistics published
by the Ministry of Justice.</p><p>Prosecutions for knife related incidents may be
brought by way of Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 which provides for
the offence of possession of a bladed or pointed article in a public place or Section
1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 which makes the possession of an offensive weapon
in a public place an offence.</p><p>The information held by CPS on such offences is
limited to the number of offences in which a CPS prosecution was charged and which
reached a first hearing in the Magistrates Court. The tables below show the number
of these offences for England and Wales and the West Midlands CPS Area.</p><table><tbody><tr><td
colspan="2"><p><strong>Table 1 - England & Wales</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>
</p></td><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014-2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Justice Act 1988 { 139 }</p></td><td><p>12,717</p></td><td><p>12,641</p></td><td><p>10,483</p></td><td><p>11,090</p></td><td><p>11,712</p></td><td><p>13,261</p></td><td><p>15,204</p></td><td><p>16,619</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Prevention
of Crime Act 1953 { 1 }</p></td><td><p>12,387</p></td><td><p>11,272</p></td><td><p>9,460</p></td><td><p>8,846</p></td><td><p>9,018</p></td><td><p>9,821</p></td><td><p>10,789</p></td><td><p>10,906</p></td></tr></tbody></table><table><tbody><tr><td
colspan="2"><p><strong>Table 2 - West Midlands CPS Area</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>
</p></td><td><p><strong>2010-2011</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2011-2012</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2012-2013</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2013-2014</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2014-2015</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2015-2016</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2016-2017</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>2017-2018</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Criminal
Justice Act 1988 { 139 }</p></td><td><p>1,147</p></td><td><p>1,259</p></td><td><p>1,036</p></td><td><p>1,078</p></td><td><p>1,145</p></td><td><p>1,455</p></td><td><p>1,676</p></td><td><p>1,890</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Prevention
of Crime Act 1953 { 1 }</p></td><td><p>1,123</p></td><td><p>1,054</p></td><td><p>822</p></td><td><p>877</p></td><td><p>914</p></td><td><p>994</p></td><td><p>1,158</p></td><td><p>1,183</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It
should be noted that the figures relate to the number of offences and not the number
of individual defendants. It is often the case that an individual defendant is charged
with more than one offence.</p>
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