More than two-thirds of knife crime offenders in Lancashire had no previous knife-related convictions or cautions, new figures show.
Ministry of Justice figures show 341 first-time knife criminals in Lancashire went through the criminal justice system in the year ending March 2023.
They account for 70 per cent of all those found guilty of knife and offensive weapon offences.
Of these, only 28 per cent were jailed immediately.
Anti-knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust said urgent change is needed to address this trend, as it suggests “for some, carrying knives has become normalised behaviour”.
Patrick Green, Ben Kinsella Trust chief executive, said this showed the law is not providing a sufficient deterrent and many first-time knife criminals would go on to become serial offenders.
Across England and Wales, the proportion of offenders sent into immediate custody for a knife offence fell from 37 per cent in the year ending March 2020 to 30 per cent this year.
In Lancashire, offenders were cautioned or sentenced 484 times for knife-related crimes. Of those, 179 (37 per cent) resulted in immediate jail sentences – fewer than in 2019-20, when the figure stood at 43 per cent.
Lancashire Constabulary caught children aged under 18 with knives 62 times in 2022-23, an increase on 56 the year before.
Mr Green said: “One possibility is that young people are feeling increasingly unsafe, and that they are mistakenly carrying knives for protection.
“Protecting our youth and fostering a safe environment for all should be a government priority.”
He added children are also influenced by social media, which “often portrays knives in a glamorised way” and said young people must be provided with the necessary support, education, and opportunities to steer them away from violence.
Of those cautioned or sentenced, 91 per cent were men, which remained unchanged from the year before.
Overall, there were 19,086 knife offences that resulted in a caution or sentence in England and Wales to March this year, which was a slight decrease on last year’s figure of 19,674.
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "If you know someone who is carrying a knife don't keep silent. Report it. Call us on 101 or report knife crime anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers who can be contacted on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.
"Incidents involving knives can have tragic consequences. Fortunately, knife crime is not a part of everyday life in Lancashire, but we take all incidents and concerns seriously and work together with Lancashire Violence Reduction Network and other partners on activity to prevent knife and violent crime from happening."
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