Knife crime rises 90% in a decade in Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire

Twenty-two people were killed by a knife in Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire last year

More than 100 serious knife crimes are committed every week in Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, figures show.

Offences including robbery, assault and murder have nearly doubled in the region in the past decade, according to the latest police data.

Campaigners claimed carrying a weapon had become as "normalised" among young people as using a mobile phone.

It comes as police across the country this week run a coordinated operation aimed at tackling knife crime.

A total of 5,257 serious offences involving a blade were recorded by forces in Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire in the year up to June 2022.

The figure is an 12% rise on the previous 12 months and up 90% from 2012.

Sarah Lloyd, whose 17-year-old son Kieran Butterworth was stabbed to death in Leeds in 2013, said she was "disheartened" by the increase but "not surprised at all".

She told the BBC: "I see it every day. I see kids carrying knives, kids getting excluded from school for being caught carrying knives. It's getting worse.

"If you speak to the youth, it's just normalised now. It's like picking up your keys and your phone - and your knife."

'Fighting a losing battle'

Assault and robbery make up the majority of the region's knife crimes, but offences such as homicides and sexual assault involving knives have also risen in the past decade.

The region's four police forces recorded 2,739 assaults with a bladed weapon in the past year, up 11% from the previous 12 months, and 1,573 knife robberies, a rise of 16%.

There were 22 homicides and 107 rapes or sexual assaults involving a knife across the region.

In South Yorkshire, which has seen the biggest rise in knife crime, police recorded 1,609 serious knife offences in the year to June 2022. This was a 20% increase on last year and an 85% rise in a decade.

Anthony Olisande, an anti-knife campaigner in Sheffield, said police were "fighting a losing battle".

"People are pulling knives out willy-nilly. Young people are worried. I feel sorry for them, we as adults have failed them," he said.

Alan Billings, South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, urged officers "to redouble their broader efforts on knife crime in light of the recent concerning statistics".

He called for "a greater emphasis on preventing knife incidents in the first place" through work in schools and community organisations.

Kieran Butterworth died from multiple chest wounds

Ms Lloyd, whose son Kieran was murdered by a drug dealer in Harehills, now gives talks to young people about the impact of knife crime. She said they often responded well to hearing "the pain and emotion" of her loss.

South Yorkshire Police said it would be stepping up education on the impact of knife crime as part of Operation Sceptre, a national week of police action running from 14 to 20 November.

Officers have also been conducting targeted knife searches and recovered a 10-inch blade from bushes in Firth Park.

In North Yorkshire, police have been visiting schools to speak to pupils and have installed amnesty bins in which people can dispose of weapons.

Humberside Police also appealed for knives to be handed in to stations and stressed there would be "no questions asked".