Hundreds of knives seized at crown courts across England in last year

Hundreds of dangerous weapons were seized at crown courts across England last year, including more than 50 illegal knives, it can be revealed.

Security staff seized more than 800 blades and other weapons at security gates in 2018.

A leading knife-crime awareness charity, The Ben Kinsella Trust, said the figures were “very worrying”.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service said anyone found with a serious weapon “will be restrained and the police will be called”.

Hundreds of knives seized

There were 694 knives seized seized at crown courts last year, a 23% rise on the year before.

Among them were 55 knives with blades over three inches long, in breach of the legal limit for carrying in public.

There were 639 knives seized which had blades of less than three inches, as well as 110 bladed objects and 11 other weapons, a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) revealed.

Small knives can be returned to their owner on written request.

Winchester Crown Court had the most weapons seized in 2018, with 95 confiscations.

The MoJ had originally refused to reveal the figures, but was forced to do so after the JPIMedia Data Unit lodged a complaint with the Information Commissioner.

And the true number of seizures may be much higher, as the information released by the MOJ did not include crown courts housed within combined court centres, such as those at Leeds, Derby or Bradford.

‘More needs to be done’

Patrick Green, chief executive of knife-crime awareness charity The Ben Kinsella Trust, said the figures were concerning.

"With England in the grip of a knife crime epidemic it is very worrying to see that even our courts are not immune from this scourge,” he said.

More than 50 knives with blades three inches or longer were confiscated at security gates