'Rise in knife crime truly frightening,' says Kemp

Ross Kemp suggested young people joined martial arts clubs if they needed to vent their frustration

An increase in knife crime nationally over the last decade was "truly frightening", Ross Kemp has said.

The actor, who made documentaries on gang culture, said he was ashamed of incidents involving blades in his home county of Essex.

The number of serious offences involving a knife or sharp object recorded in the year ending March 2024 in England and Wales was 54% higher than the figure for 2016.

He called on young people to drive home the message that carrying a knife was "socially unacceptable".

"The increase in the amount of knife crime we’ve seen in the last decade or so has been truly frightening at all levels," he told BBC Essex.

"If you want to, go and join a jiu-jitsu club. If you want to go fighting, go and join a boxing club.

"These are skills you’ll have for life and you won’t need to carry a piece of metal around in your pocket."

The 60-year-old, best known for playing Grant Mitchell in EastEnders, added there was "nothing glamorous" about arming yourself with a weapon.

"People who carry knives often end up being stabbed with the actual knife they're carrying."

Kemp's comments came after a number of incidents in Southend-on-Sea over the summer that involved blades.

The seaside city was somewhere he had great affection for, but he admitted he was "not proud of behaviour like that".

Eight people were arrested in one day in August this year in Southend-on-Sea, after groups responded to invites to a rave on the beach

More than twice as many knife crime offences were recorded in Essex in the 12 months to March 2024, than the figure for 2016.

However, according to the Office for National Statistics, the figures have plateaued slightly both in Essex and nationally since 2021.

An Essex Police spokesman pointed out that knife-enabled crime in the south of the county had fallen by 20% in the year to June.

The force recorded 504 of these offences in the region, down from 632 the year before.

A knife surrender scheme saw more than 200 blades handed in to police stations across the county between August and September, the spokesman added.