Concern at knife crime sentences

Fewer than one in five people charged with knife offences are sent to prison, Metropolitan (Met) Police figures show.

Staff monitored 103 individuals charged with such offences in one week in June during an anti-knife crime operation.

Of 24 youths who had been dealt with in court by 28 July, just one was jailed. Of the 29 adults sentenced by the same date, eight received jail terms.

The figures, collated during Operation Blunt, showed 17%, or fewer than one in five, offenders were jailed.