Record numbers of serious crimes involving knives were recorded by police officers in Avon and Somerset last year - many of them involving young people.
There were 911 serious crimes reported in the policing area in 2019 where the offender had a knife or sharp object.
According to Office for National Statistics figures, this is the highest number recorded since comparable figures began in 2010.
The number is up by eight per cent in a year, from 847 knife crimes recorded in 2018.
In 2019, there were five homicides, 18 attempted murders, 11 rapes or sexual assaults, 301 robberies, 98 threats to kill and 478 assaults involving a knife or sharp object.
They include the murder of Tyrone Hayman, who was found with a stab wound to the chest on Mansfield Street, Bedminster, on December 14. A 14-year-old boy faces a trial over the 17-year-old's death this year.
Other incidents include the stabbing of a 17-year-old boy in Webb Street in Easton back in July and a 48-year-old man was repeatedly knifed in Bobby's Newsagent in Horfield in August.
Overall, crime in Avon and Somerset is up by two per cent year on year, with 138,730 offences recorded in 2019.
Within that there has been a five per cent increase in violence against a person, a three per cent rise in sexual offences and a 23 per cent rise in robberies. However, theft offences have dropped by three per cent.
The national picture
Across England and Wales, figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) suggest crime levels may have started to fall - down by an estimated five per cent in 2019.
The figures, which ask about people’s experience of crime, are seen as a better measure of overall crime levels, while police recorded crime figures, which rose by four per cent in 2019, show how many offences have been dealt with by police.
The fall seen in the CSEW was largely driven by a nine per cent drop in thefts, while other crimes showed little change.
Joe Traynor, from the Office for National Statistics Centre, noted the figures pre-date the coronavirus outbreak. Police forces have reported a 28 per cent drop in crime reports since social distancing measures have been put in place.
He said: “It is not possible to say whether this would have come to represent a change from the flat trend in recent years, as it is likely that the current lockdown will have an impact on the level of crime in 2020.
“The 2019 data revealed different patterns for specific types of crime, for instance, robbery increased but burglary decreased, while fraud and lower-harm violent offences remained stable.
“Although the number of homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was used fell across the country, it increased in London.”
