• Fatal stabbings now outnumber gun deaths in the UK by three to one. Latest figures show that the knife has become the most commonly used murder weapon.
• A child in Britain dies every two weeks in a knife attack.
• Knife attacks have soared since 2002, nearly doubling in some areas.
• The number of people convicted of carrying a blade in public rose from 2,991 in 1999 to 5,308 in 2003. Of these 452 in 1999 and 755 in 2003 were aged between 15 and 17.
• The British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine Reports indicate a rise in stab wounds, particularly among men aged between 14 and 25.
• A survey by the Bridgehouse Trust found that a quarter of children aged 12 to 16 admitted to carrying a knife. Of the crimes committed by young people, carrying a knife was the most common offence among children excluded from school, according to the Youth Justice Board.
• In 2004 almost half of shops tested had broken the law by selling knives to children under 16, says the Trading Standards Institute.
• Nationally, six per cent of all violent crimes are knife-related. Out of 820 homicides in 2004/5, 236 involved sharp instruments.