Thousands of weapons surrendered in knife amnesty
Junior Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said on Friday it was encouraging that 17,715 weapons had been surrendered in the first week of the amnesty, but he urged that more be given up.
"If you carry a knife out of self-defence, you run the risk of having it turned on you," he said during a visit to Long Eaton in Derbyshire to view surrendered weapons.
"Carrying a knife is illegal and will not be tolerated -- indeed, it could land you four years in prison," he added.
The amnesty is the first in Britain for 10 years. The previous one in 1996 led to 40,000 weapons being handed over.
The latest amnesty, which began on May 24 and runs until June 30, was in part prompted by fears of a growing knife culture in Britain.
Among a spate of recent fatal stabbings have been those of 15-year-old Kiyan Prince, a promising footballer attacked outside his London school, and part-time policewoman Nisha Patel-Nasri.
Official figures show that 6 percent of all violent crimes are knife-related. More than a quarter of the 820 homicides in 2004/5 involved sharp instruments, and in London alone, there were more than 12,500 knife-related incidents last year.
The peak age for knife crime is 15 to 18 and data shows 41 percent of those accused of robbery using a knife were in this age bracket, as were 17 percent of the victims.
Several anti-knife campaigners have said the amnesty will not stop knife crime, and demand tougher sentences for carrying weapons.