December 29, 2008: Illegal Knives: Greater Punishments

Tougher, more intensive punishments for people who carry illegal knives were announced today by Justice Minister David Hanson MP, who outlined the government's position for 2009.

From 5 January, 2009, courts will be able to hand out tougher and more intensive penalties for everyone convicted of possession of a knife who are ordered by the courts to carry out community payback work such as picking up litter, renovating community centres, clearing undergrowth and cleaning up graffiti for local communities.

 Offenders sentenced to pay for their crimes within the community already have to work hard, wear high visibility orange jackets with the distinctive 'Community Payback' logo, give something back to their neighbourhoods and lose much of their free time. Justice Minister David Hanson said:

'We want to ensure knife crime offenders are treated with the seriousness they deserve. Where jail is the best option, I'll always make sure there are enough prison places and more people are now going to prison for knife-related crime.'

'But the government also wants to see tougher and more effective community based sentences for those the courts choose not to send to jail. Earlier this year I announced that anyone convicted of a knife-related offence and sentenced to the maximum 300 hours of community payback from the courts will complete their sentence in intensive blocks.'

'This is now being extended to include all knife crime offenders given any amount of community payback as part of their sentence. They will now have to do at least 18 hours of work a week, and potentially be subject to a curfew that keeps them off the streets in the evening and a probation appointment during the week on top of these hours. This means a significant loss of liberty and free time for all those unemployed knife offenders across the whole of England and Wales.'

The government is committed to tackling knife crime and has doubled the maximum sentence for possessing an illegal knife to four years in 2006, increased the use of stop and search, and raised the age at which you can be sold a knife to 18 in 2007.

Knife crime offenders may also have to do programmes or activities with their community payback work which are designed to reform their behaviour and so reduce the likelihood of reoffending. This might involve attendance on an offending behaviour group work programme or a course to improve prospects of employment. Offenders may also have to attend drug rehabilitation, which may involve more than three days of all their activities each week.

Last year there were 55,771 completions of community payback across England and Wales, providing over six million hours of free labour for communities. Recent statistics show that frequency of reoffending for community sentences have fallen sharply by 13%. The reoffending rate following a short custodial sentence is 59.7%. The reoffending rate following a community sentences is 37.9%.

A community sentence can be made up of one or more of the following 12 options: compulsory community payback, specified activity - such as a course to improve prospects of employment, supervision - daily or weekly meetings with a probation officer, an accredited programme to tackle issues such as anger management, prohibited activity, curfew, exclusion from a place, activity at an attendance centre, residence with an automatic curfew, mental health treatment, drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment. Sentences are constructed to ensure the public's safety is paramount, the offender is duly punished, but they are also given the opportunity to rehabilitate and get help for the some of the root causes behind their offending.

The ten areas taking part in the Tackling Knives Action Programme are London, Essex, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, South Wales and Thames Valley.