Knife robberies double to 175 a day in two years

The revelation follows a weekend of knife violence, including the death of 16-year- old GCSE student Andrew Holland and two fatal stabbings in London.

A study compiled from Government figures showed the number of street robberies involving blades rose from 25,500 in 2005 to 64,000 in the year to April 2007.

This means there were 175 robberies at knifepoint in England and Wales every day last year - up from 110 the year before and 69 in 2004-5.

Scroll down for more...

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, based at King's College London, said knives are now used in one in five muggings. This is twice the frequency reported two years ago.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said the Government was responding to the crisis too slowly.

"This explosion in knife crime is the most astounding symptom of Britain's broken society. The Government has been slow to recognise and even slower to act to deal with this plague on the streets of our towns and cities."

Norman Brennan, of the Victims of Crime Trust, said: "We are facing a national crisis with knife crime. Increasing numbers of people do not think twice about slipping a knife into their pocket before they leave the house.

"There should be a mass nationwide stop and search and police should take community leaders with them so they can see the feral youngsters who are roaming our streets."

Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said ministers had taken the wrong approach to tackling the problem.

"The Government has embarked on endless law and order initiatives, yet knife-related robberies appear to be increasing," he added.

The surge in knife crime was highlighted on Saturday when police began a murder investigation after teenager Andrew Holland was stabbed to death in Bolton.

The 16-year-old was waiting for his GCSE results this week and wanted to join the Army, his family said.

Northumbria police also charged a man after an incident on the Tyne Bridge in which a policeman was attacked with a knife.

A woman was found stabbed to death in a flat in Fulham, South-West London, on Friday evening and a man in his early twenties was killed during a frenzied knife attack in Croydon.

The study coincides with another report, seen by the Daily Mail, which revealed that knife attacks which leave the victim in hospital have increased by nearly a third since 1997.

The analysis of NHS figures also revealed the number of patients who die in English

hospitals after being stabbed has risen 50 per cent since Labour came to power.

Researchers at Bristol University - who studied NHS admission records between 1997 and 2005 - found that 3,770 people in England were admitted to hospital with knife wounds in 1997.

By 2005 that had risen to 4,891.

Some 42 per cent of those admissions took place on a Saturday or Sunday - suggesting a link to weekend drinking.

The number of stabbing deaths rose from 92 when Labour came into power, to 139 eight years later.

Earlier this year the Government increased the penalty for carrying a knife in public from two to four years' in prison.

Of the 820 murders in England and Wales in 2005, 236 - or 29 per cent - were committed with a blade.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Crime and violent crime have fallen by a third in the last ten years while sharp instrument homicides have remained broadly stable.

"Public protection is our top priority which is why we have recently introduced tough legislation, such as increasing the maximum sentence for carrying a knife in public without good reason from two to four years. We will continue to tackle knife and other forms of crime."