Knife Crime

True or false: If you carry a knife or other weapon, you are less likely to be injured?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

If you carry a knife/weapon you are more likely to get injured yourself as you are seen as more of a threat. There is also the risk of being overpowered and injured with your own weapon.

True or false: If you are caught carrying a knife/weapon you will only get a Police caution?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Carrying a knife is a crime and if caught you will be charged and reported. You may also be fined or imprisoned for up to 4 years or both.

which country has the highest knife crime rates?

• Columbia

• Venezuela

• South Africa

• UK

• America

Answer explanation

The countries with the most stabbing deaths in the world are South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia, Belize, Haiti, Honduras, Colombia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. South Africa has the most stabbing deaths in the world, with a stabbing death rate of 16.95 per 100,000 people.

True or false: The Police may stop and search you if they think you are carrying a knife/weapon?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The Police can stop and search without warrant any person they suspect is carrying a weapon/knife. If you are caught with one they will arrest and charge you. With reasonable grounds a Constable may enter school premises without warrant and search the premises for knives, offensive weapons and specifically listed martial arts weapons. 

Is carrying something like a sharpened comb considered illegal in the same way that carrying a knife is?

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 makes it an offence to have "any article which has a blade or is sharply pointed" in a public place. The only type of knife that is excluded from this definition is a "folding pocketknife", a penknife in normal parlance, with a blade of three inches or less. But the courts have held that this exclusion does not extend to a knife whose blade can be locked open (a lock knife); it would be an offence to carry one of these, however long the blade.

True or false: There are safe areas on the body that you can be stabbed?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Anywhere that you are stabbed can damage nerves, blood vessels or organs and therefore can cause serious and fatal bleeding.

Is carrying a knife for protection a reasonable excuse in law?

• Yes

• No

True or false: It is illegal to buy a knife if you are under the age of 18?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

It is a criminal offence for a person under 18 to buy a knife and it’s illegal for shops to sell knives to anyone under 18 years old.

What is the maximum prison sentence you could get for carrying a knife, even if you don’t use it?

• Up to 1 years.

• Up to 3 years.

• Up to 4 years.

• Up to 7 years.

Answer explanation

The maximum penalty for an adult carrying a knife or weapon illegally is either 4 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. You'll get a prison sentence if you're convicted of carrying a knife or weapon illegally more than once.

True or false: A criminal record could affect your future plans to travel to USA and Canada?

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Having a criminal record could mean that you are not allowed to enter countries such as the USA and Canada.