Dramatic fall in knife crime as Labour policing chief hails ‘actual outcomes’
Data published on Thursday shows a 23% drop in knife homicides in England and Wales in the year to September 2025, with overall knife crime falling by 9%
Latest data shows a steep fall in knife deaths and offences(Image: PA)
Labour’s policing minister has welcomed a steep drop in knife crime as she vowed to go further.
Data published this morning shows a 23% fall in knife homicides, while overall blade offences were down by 9% in the 12 months to September 2025. Overall there were 50,430 cases reported to police forces.
At the same time homicides fell by 7%, data from the Office for National Statistics shows. Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones told The Mirror: “This government is committed to halving knife crime in a decade and these figures show that our approach is delivering real results.
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“Knife‑enabled homicides and robberies are down, and tens of thousands of dangerous weapons have been taken off our streets. That means fewer victims, safer streets and more families spared unimaginable loss.
“But now is not the time to ease up.” Ms Jones said a major policing shake-up unveiled by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday will help officers focus on tackling knife crime further.
Under the measures a new National Police Service – which Ms Mahmood likened to a ‘British FBI’ – will focus on terrorism and organised crime. This, the Government argues, will mean forces are better placed to deal with local crime.
Ms Jones said: “We are backing the police with the tools, powers and intelligence they need to act faster and more precisely, taking knives off the streets and stopping violence before it happens.
“The policing reforms announced this week will help us go further. New national response standards and clearer accountability will ensure officers reach serious incidents faster, preventing escalation and helping catch offenders sooner.
“A new National Police Service will free up local forces by taking on serious and organised crime, putting more officers back into neighbourhoods to spot risks early and deter knife crime.” And she pointed to the rollout of facial recognition technology and Hex mapping – which allows police to pinpoint hotspots where crime is happening – as measures to help identify dangerous criminals.
The number of killings involving a knife or sharp instrument fell from 227 to 174 in a year, ONS data shows. These were among 499 homicides – the lowest since comparable records started in 2003.
The Met Police recorded an 11% decrease in knife-enabled crime, West Midlands saw an 18% drop and Greater Manchester Police reported a 9% decrease. Yvette Cooper was in post until the start of September last year.
Billy Gazard, from the ONS said: “While the crime survey paints a relatively stable picture, many aspects of violent crime and theft recorded by the police have fallen in the past 12 months.
“Homicide and gun crime are at the lowest levels seen this century, while knife crime has also decreased. The majority of police forces have seen knife crime fall in the past year, including the larger urban Greater Manchester, Metropolitan and West Midlands areas.
“This is supported by NHS data, which continue to show a decrease in hospital admissions for assault by a sharp object.” Ms Mahmood said: “We are having real success tackling the crimes that terrorise communities.
Homicides are at their lowest level for almost 50 years. Knife crime continues to fall. But the crimes that tear at the fabric of communities, like shop theft and shop robbery, continue to rise and we must do more.
“That is why we are putting 13,000 more neighbourhood officers on the beat, and have invested £2billion more in forces across the country since we took office.” The ONS figures show shoplifting increased in the year to September, but is slightly below record levels seen in the 12 months to March 2025. There were 519,381 shoplifting offences in the year to September, up 5% from 492,660 the previous year.
A total of 530,439 offences of all types were recorded in the year to March 2025.
