Met fears growing 'knife culture'

Police fear "knife culture" is spreading in London with offences rising among both criminals and schoolchildren.

Latest figures from the Metropolitan Police show that 361 incidents involving knives are recorded every week, up by 13 per cent on a year ago.

The increase far outstrips a four per cent rise in violent crime across London, and a two per cent decline in overall crime.

Scotland Yard believes its success in tackling gun crime has produced an unwanted side-effect of more criminals turning to knives instead. The Met's acting assistant commissioner Steve House said last month: "There's a feeling that because gun crime is being reduced, people think it's safer to go into knives."

The surge in knife offences is a major factor behind a 40 per cent rise in the number of criminal cases coming to court in London. Many of the cases are the result of patrols using stop-and-search powers to arrest people carrying knives before they use them.

One in four murders in the capital is carried out with a knife, while one in six muggings involves a knife. Across London, police receive an average of 15 reports per week of burglars armed with knives.

Kensington and Chelsea is the borough with the largest rise in knife crime in the past two years, with 236 knife offences reported in the 10 months to March - up by 35 per cent on a year earlier.