Number of people killed with knife in England and Wales highest on record

A man holds a knife. (iStock/Getty)

The number of people killed with a knife in England and Wales in 2021/22 was the highest on record for 76 years.

Around four in 10 homicides were committed using a knife or sharp instrument in the year to March 2022, some 282 in total.

This is a 19% rise compared with the previous year and the highest annual total since records began in 1946, according to analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The 2021/22 total number of homicides – murder, manslaughter and infanticide – is similar to a previous high of 281 in the 12 months to March 2018, a report published on Thursday said.

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