THERE has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of robberies and incidents involving a knife reported to Gwent Police in the past few months, new figures obtained exclusively by the South Wales Argus show.

Gwent Police have said the force is committed to keeping all their communities safe.

Data obtained via a Freedom of Information request show that, from June to November this year, 329 crimes involving a knife were reported to Gwent Police – in comparison to 254 from June to November last year. This means, knife crime incidents are up 29.53 per cent from last year.

The figures also show that robberies are up 30 per cent from the previous year. 134 robberies were reported to the force between June and November this year, compared to 103 in the same period last year.

Breaking this year’s figures down, Newport is the area where more crimes involving a knife (119) and robberies (92) were reported. In comparison, the previous year, 93 knife crime incidents and 67 robberies were recorded in the city. This means, Newport has seen a 27.9 per cent increase in knife crime and 37.31 increase in robberies.

The data shows Newport is followed by Caerphilly – where 113 crimes involving a knife and 22 robberies were reported from June to November 2017. This compares to 68 knife crime incidents and 20 robberies the previous year. With a 66.18% increase, Caerphilly is the area to have seen the biggest increase in knife crime in Gwent.

In other Gwent areas, Blaenau Gwent saw 37 knife crime incidents recorded this year, compared to 27 the previous year, and eight robberies, compared to four the year before. While knife crime has increased by 37.04 per cent in the area, the amount of robberies reported to police have doubled.

Torfaen had 35 knife crime incidents recorded this year, compared to 49 the previous year – meaning Torfaen is the only area in Gwent which has seen a decrease in knife crime. Nine robberies were reported in Torfaen between and June this year, which is the same as the previous year.

Monmouthshire also saw an increase in knife crime, from 17 incidents recorded last year to 25 this year. Three robberies were reported in Monmouthshire between and June this year, which is the same as the previous year.

The figures also show that, from the number of crimes reported, only a minority lead to someone being charged or being given a summons. For example, out of 119 knife crime incidents recorded in Newport, only 24 people were charged or summoned. Another example is Torfaen, where, of 35 knife crime incidents recorded, only one person was charged or summoned. In Blaenau Gwent, out of 37 knife crime incidents recorded, only three people were charged or summoned.

This is a trend reflected across all the data provided, which can be seen online.

Gwent Police’s detective superintendent Steve Corcoran said the force is committed to keeping all their communities safe.

He said: “Where evidence is available, we will always pursue offenders for these offences through the criminal justice system.

“We recognise the prosecution rates are currently relatively low, however this reflects the national picture.

“As a proportion of overall crime in Gwent, these crime types are thankfully very low, knife crime particularly.”

Mr Corcoran said the increase in robberies in Newport is a “concern”.

He added: “Although national trends for knife crime and robbery have shown an increase, Gwent Police has seen a smaller increase than all other similar sized forces for knife crime and is among those with the lowest increases for robbery.”

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, said a number of factors attributed to the “slight increase in robberies” and “the sharp increase” in parts of Gwent in the number of crimes involving a knife recorded.

He said: “In part, this includes more victims having the confidence to report offences to the police and an improvement in recording practices by police services nationwide over the last few years.

“One thing I want to make clear is that knife crime in particular can have potentially devastating consequences and we want people to come forward to report crimes of this nature.

“Gwent Police are proactively going after these weapons and the service has worked hard on campaigns and operations to reduce knife crime across Gwent. I also recently supported a successful campaign to change the law to ban the so called ‘zombie knives’ from sale.”

He said Gwent Police ran a knife amnesty in July this year.