robberies, gun crime and fraud also up - but number of crimes solved drops to just 7.4 per cent with only 1.4 per cent of (reported) rapes ending up in court. Shocking figures show rise in knife and firearms offences in England and Wales
Robberies, public order offences and pickpocketing are also up by around 10%
Meanwhile, separate figures show the number of solved crimes was just 7.4%
For rape, less than one in 50 reports to police ends up with someone in court
Knife crime is continuing to rocket as shocking figures released today show more than 44,000 offences were reported last year.
The number of offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales rose by 7% on the previous 12 months, figures released by the Office for National Statistics show.
The alarming figures also reveal a 4% rise in firearms offences, a 10% increase in pickpocking, an 11% rise in robberies and a 9% increase in public order offences.
Meanwhile, the number of overall offences where criminals actually ended up in court slid to just 7.4%.
Worryingly, a breakdown shows just 1.4% of reported rapes end up in someone being charged, just 3.3% of sexual offences and only 5% of thefts. The crime survey stats also show a 15 per cent increase in fraud offences to a stagger 3.8million - with 2.6million of those classified as bank and credit account frauds.
A total of 119 people have already suffered a violent death in London this year, but the statistics show that, in the period the statistics were gathered, the total number of homicides recorded by the police across the country fell by 5% in the last year, from 719 to 681 offences.
There has also been a 14% decrease in homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was involved to 248 offences, mainly driven by a drop in such incidents in London, the ONS said. RELATED ARTICLES
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The figures, taken from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime statistics, show offences in the 12 months up to June 2019.
The excludes Greater Manchester Police because the force's data is not comparable due to reporting issues.
Javed Khan, chief executive of charity Barnardo's, said: 'It's totally unacceptable that the knife crime crisis continues to claim so many young lives, with offences at a record high. Knife crime is a symptom of a much wider, complex problem.
'Too many young people are suffering a 'poverty of hope', and facing a future with no qualifications, no job prospects, and no role models, making them vulnerable to criminal gangs who force them to deliver drugs and carry knives.'The crime survey stats also show a 15 per cent increase in fraud offences to a stagger 3.8million - with 2.6million of those classified as bank and credit account frauds.
A total of 119 people have already suffered a violent death in London this year, but the statistics show that, in the period the statistics were gathered, the total number of homicides recorded by the police across the country fell by 5% in the last year, from 719 to 681 offences.
There has also been a 14% decrease in homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was involved to 248 offences, mainly driven by a drop in such incidents in London, the ONS said.
The figures, taken from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) and police recorded crime statistics, show offences in the 12 months up to June 2019.
The excludes Greater Manchester Police because the force's data is not comparable due to reporting issues.
Javed Khan, chief executive of charity Barnardo's, said: 'It's totally unacceptable that the knife crime crisis continues to claim so many young lives, with offences at a record high. Knife crime is a symptom of a much wider, complex problem.
'Too many young people are suffering a 'poverty of hope', and facing a future with no qualifications, no job prospects, and no role models, making them vulnerable to criminal gangs who force them to deliver drugs and carry knives.'entage of cases solved has almost halved in the last four years. It was 14.8% in 2015.
In total, police recorded crime rose by 7% to more than 6 million. Excluding fraud and computer misuse offences, this stood at 5.27 million - an increase of 6%.
Meanwhile, separate figures also released on Thursday show that the proportion of crimes in England and Wales resulting in a charge or summons fell to another record low of 7.4% in the 12 months to the end of June.
This meant 393,112 suspects were charged or ordered to be in court during that time, according to the Home Office data.
In almost 45% of more than 2.36 million cases, the investigation was completed but no suspect was identified. In at least 1.2 million cases (22.8%), the victim did not support further action.
Joe Traynor, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: 'While overall levels of violence have remained steady, the number of offences involving a knife has continued to increase across England and Wales.
'However, the number of homicides where a knife or sharp instrument was involved decreased, driven by falls in London.
'There is a mixed picture in the total number of knife crime offences across police forces with the Metropolitan Police recording little change in the last year.'