Seven in 10 knifepoint robberies go unsolved each year

Data from West Midlands Police shows the force recorded 1,776 robberies involving a knife or bladed weapon in 2018, but 1,277 cases (71 per cent) ended without charge.

A total of 1,256 cases saw officers halt investigations without having identified a suspect, while in 21 cases victims either declined to help or were unable to pinpoint an offender.

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Staffordshire Police failed to identify a suspect in 46 per cent of 255 knife robbery offences last year.

Senior officers say that forces across the country are battling “an explosion in violent crime which shows no sign of abating”, while Labour has blamed the knife crime epidemic on Tory cuts to frontline officer numbers.

The figures were obtained by the Press Association and include data from 22 forces.

They showed that in England a total of 15,588 robberies involving a knife or bladed weapon were recorded in 2018, two thirds of which ended with no suspect identified.

Che Donald, national vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said there was “no denying that the numbers are uncomfortably high”.

“Combined with an 8 per cent overall increase in knife crime across England and Wales, what is blatantly apparent is that our over-stretched and under-funded police forces are battling an explosion in violent crime which shows no sign of abating.”

Patrick Green, chief executive of anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said it was “deplorable” that so many criminals who use knives to commit robberies were not going in front of the courts.

“While it is clear that the police are doing all they can to tackle this increasing problem with the resources they have available, more needs to be done,” he said.

Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbot said the rise in violent crime was down to Conservative government cuts.