Just one in every 20 criminals convicted by Hampshire Police (which includes the Isle of Wight) for possessing knives, guns or other weapons are sentenced to at least a year in prison.
Ministry of Justice statistics show that 15 out of the 262 people convicted for weapons possession offences in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight last year were handed prison time of 12 months or more. In fact more offenders received a community order, 77 in total.
60% of suspects found guilty
Out of the 435 suspects Hampshire Police brought to court, 60% were found guilty. Weapons possession offences include having a gun, knife or bottle of acid in public, and more serious crimes include threatening someone with blades or firearms or taking them to schools.
Currently the minimum sentence is a community order and the maximum is four years’ imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offence.
New minimum sentence
However in June new guidelines will come into place making the minimum sentence six months in custody.
In 2017 just three of those convicted received a sentence of four years or more. If the defendant was sentenced for two separate offences, the data combines their custodial time.
Of the total, 116 weapons trials were dealt with at crown court, indicating they are the most serious offences. The rest were seen at magistrates’ court where the maximum sentence is six months’ imprisonment.
Of those cases held at crown court, 57% were convicted.
Education first port of call for knife crime
Patrick Green, chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity which aims to raise awareness about knife crime, said it was “important that we send a message that we are not going soft on offenders”.
Ben was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in 2008 when he was just 16-years-old. His family set up the trust in his honour.
Mr Green continued:
“The average custodial sentence for carrying a knife in Scotland is almost twice that of England and Wales. Knife crime is falling in Scotland and rising in England and Wales.
“But it’s critically important that we stop people carrying knives in the first place, we cannot police our way out of this.
“Education should be our first port of call and if offenders go on to carry knives there should be strong consequences. It is unclear from these figures whether that is the case.”
Mr Green explained that the two strike rule meant that people caught with knives would only face a custodial sentence on the second offence.“What the public want to see from non-custodial sentences is a low reoffending rate. The public needs to see that young people are not going to continue carrying knives.”
Lowest conviction for sexual offences
Sexual offences was the crime group which had the lowest conviction rate in 2017 at 37%, with theft trials having the highest rate at 81%.
The overall crown court conviction rate for Hampshire Police was 62.6%, with 1,321 out of the 2,109 suspects found guilty. That’s lower than the England and Wales average of 63.2%. This was lower than 2016 when 65% of people were convicted.
The conviction rate for magistrates’ courts was higher at 79.5%. Magistrates’ courts deal with less serious cases and do not have jury trials.
Article by Data Reporter Ralph Blackburn as part of the OnTheWight’s collaboration with Press Association and Urbs Media
