4 in 5 Knife Criminals Escape Jail

ONLY one in five knife offenders ends up behind bars, it was revealed last night.

The number jailed has plummeted by a QUARTER in just 12 months.

From July to September last year 7,323 thugs were caught with a knife and 1,660 - 23 per cent - were caged. In the same time this year 6,399 were arrested but just 1,215 - 19 per cent - were sent to prison.

That's a fall of 445 in the number jailed - about a quarter of last year's total.

And the proportion given a community or suspended sentence has RISEN over the last year, according to Ministry of Justice figures. The number of cautions has dropped - but one in four blade carriers is still let off with one.

The Tories were alarmed at the figures. Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve said: "Under Labour those caught with a knife are more likely to get a slap on the wrist than a jail term."

A Tory government would ensure those caught with a blade are locked up, he said.The drop in the number being caged comes despite calls for tougher sentences.

New guidelines tell judges that 12 weeks' jail should be the "starting point" for people caught carrying a blade.

Justice Minister Claire Ward insisted the Government is being tough on knife crime, adding: "Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts."

i think it should be jail but not in all cases as a fisher man i carry a Knife a lot of the time and when my gear is in the car there is a Knife in the car and all the lads i fish with are the same so it has to be on a case by case basis