Knives: Sales
(asked on 16th March 2016) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many suppliers of knives have been convicted and prosecuted under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1998 since that Act's implementation; and what the average length of custodial sentence received was for such convictions.
Knife crime has no place on our streets and the Government continues to work with the police and partners, including retailers, to ensure that we reduce violence and knife crime. Selling knives, and certain articles with a blade or point, to under 18s is a criminal offence enforced by the police and Trading Standards with a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The law is clear that a retailer commits a criminal offence if they do not take proper steps to make sure they are not selling knives to under-18s.
The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts of offences under S141A Criminal Justice Act 1988, England and Wales, from 1997 to 2003, can be viewed in the table.
Persons proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences under S141A Criminal Justice Act 1988, England and Wales, 1997 to 2003(1)(2) | ||||||
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Year | Proceeded against | Found guilty | Sentenced | of which | Immediate Custody | Average custodial sentence length (4) |
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1997 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 1 | * |
1998 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| - | - |
1999 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| - | - |
2000 | - | - | - |
| - | - |
2001 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| - | - |
2002 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| - | - |
2003 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| - | - |
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' - ' = Nil |
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* = Figure suppressed as number too small to give meaningful average. |
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(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. | ||||||
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(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. | ||||||
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Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice. |
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PQ 31364/31365 |
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Data for 2004 to 2014 is available within the Criminal Justice Statistics publication at the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014 .
One person has been given an immediate custodial sentence for this offence therefore there is no average custodial sentence length.