Rise in knife crime in North Yorkshire - Selby author urges education

And a local authour and knife crime campaigner warned it is important young people are educated on the dangers of weapons.

Ministry of Justice figures show 50 offenders in North Yorkshire were given an immediate sentence in the year to September – accounting for 34 per cent of knife crime offenders who went through the criminal justice system.

This was up on the proportion of offenders handed an immediate sentence in 2020-21 (33 per cent), but below the proportion two years earlier (39 per cent).

Overall, around 14 per cent of the 148 offenders in North Yorkshire who went through the criminal justice system were cautioned, 30 per cent were given community sentences and 16 per cent were handed suspended sentences.

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Selby-based children's author, Christina Gabbitas, has worked with police forces across the country to help educate children on the dangers of knife crime - and has produced a book to help them.

Christina said: "I’ve been working with North Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police visiting schools and delivering workshops to help educate children and young people on the dangers of carrying knives, using my story 'No More Knives or County Lines'.

"Statistics state that if you are carrying a knife you are more likely to be stabbed. This is just one of our messages that we relay to children and young people in our sessions. I speak to - and know of - families who have been affected and the consequences are devastating for individuals, families and our communities.

Christina Gabbitas, centre, while visiting a school with police officers to educate on the dangers of knife crime (Image: UGC)

"When researching to write my first story, I interviewed an ex-offender who was stabbed several times after taking knives out of his mother's kitchen drawer thinking it would protect him, pulling out the knife and nearly losing his life.

"Education and early intervention are both key. The police are doing an amazing job at raising awareness but we need help from the public too - and this is one of the reasons that we feel it important to visit schools to help open up conversations with parents too."

Across England and Wales, nearly 19,400 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with – a decrease of five per cent since the year ending September 2021.

The data shows 74 per cent of offenders in North Yorkshire last year had no previous convictions or cautions, 12 per cent had one, seven per cent had two and seven per cent had three or more.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said that more criminals caught carrying a knife are being sent to jail for longer than they were a decade ago, thanks to the action of the Government to protect the public and make the country's streets safer.