Youth Custody: an update

Posted on February 21, 2026 by John Howson

Following on from my last blog post about an incidence of knife crime in a school in Wales, I thought that I would look again at the latest statistics regarding youth custody for uder18s in England and Wales. Youth justice statistics: 2024 to 2025 – GOV.UK

The table below is abstracted from Table 7.2: Youth custody population, year on year monthly trends (under 18s only), years ending March 2001 to 2025 omitting the data for the years before 2014/15

Financial Year	Apr	Jul	Oct	Jan	Feb	Mar	Average monthly population
2014/15	1,078	1,111	1,033	976	988	1,002	1,031
2015/16	999	1,003	997	921	877	881	946
2016/17	906	857	872	862	863	858	870
2017/18	910	914	898	874	865	922	897
2018/19	938	882	853	806	827	832	856
2019/20	795	811	791	751	770	737	776
2020/21	664	563	535	532	536	516	558
2021/22	493	479	449	426	414	422	447
2022/23	432	457	434	437	467	452	447
2023/24	457	443	429	397	411	410	425
2024/25	427	437	400	406	398	402	412

The decline in custody numbers even during the period between 2-014/15 and 2024/25 is significant, especially taking into account the growth in the number of young people in the older age groups 11-18 during the period under review.

In April 2014, there were 1,078 under-18s in custody. In March 2024 that number had reduced to 402. This was just five above the lowest number in recent history, recorded in January 2024.

For girls, the average number in custody in 2025 was just 10, compared with 42 in 2015. So, the girl convicted of stabbing teachers in Wales really does join a very small number of other girls in custody.

The most worrying number within the 402 is the number on remand. This number stood at 183 in March 2025, some 44% of the total. This compared with just 23% in March 2015. The backlog of trails post-Covid is well known. There is surely a case for fast tracking cases for those under-18s on remand. No child of school-age should be locked up a day longer than necessary. A backlog of trials is not a good enough reason to leave a young person languishing in custody.

Violence against the person offences, offences that would include attempted murder – the offence the girl in Wales was sentenced to custody for – now account for 68% of the primary offences for young people under-18 in custody, compared to just 31% of those in custody in 2015. One should always be wary of using percentages, since the absolute numbers have declined from 317 in March 2014 to 284 in March 2025. It is just that custody for other offences, especially for both domestic burglary and robbery producing custodial sentences have declined even faster than custody for offences of violence against the person.

One concern about the decline in custody is that under-18s in Young Offenders Institutions may now be serving sentences or on remand further from home than in the past, as the number of institutions in use reduces with the reduction in the custody population. This is an issue that policymakers may wish to address. When Cabinet Member in Oxfordshire, I did my best to keep young offenders out of Feltham YOI, but acknowledged that the alternative YOIs were further away., should there have been no alternative to that form of custody.

The use of custody for undr-18s has come a long way since the bleak days of the Blair government and police targets, when August 2006 saw more than 3,000 under-18s in custody. Even with this massive reduction, I think we are less violent society, despite some headlines in the press and on social media.

Violence in schools: what will SEND White Paper say?

Posted on February 20, 2026 by John Howson

There is an interesting interview on the BBC website with one of the teachers stabbed at a school in Wales in 2024 Ammanford stabbing victim Liz Hopkin criticises knife crime plan for schools – BBC News I was sorry to hear of the incident, and would like to express my sympathy for the teachers that were the victims and the students that saw the attack.

What makes the story interesting to me is that the stabbing was by a girl and that she later received a sentence of 15 years in detention. The girl was just 13, and the picture shows a multi-tool knife that might better be described as a ‘bladed instrument’.

Regular readers will know that in January 1977, I was stabbed in the classroom, when I was teaching a Year 11 class, by an intruder aged 15 who had been a former pupil at the school. Sentencing at that time for young people meant he received a six-month detention in custody from a judge at the Old Bailey, after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary. In those days, The Metropolitan Police would not consider a charge such as attempted murder, as the intent to kill was not clear. Presumably, it was in the attacks in Wales? The responsibility of us all | John Howson

Even without all the details, but reading the BBC article, I think that 15 years in detention was a questionable sentence, and I wonder whether it was upheld on appeal? There may be a case for a deterrent sentence, but reading between the lines of the BBC report, this young person clearly had issues identified by the school. That doesn’t make the action acceptable, but does raise questions about the length of sentence, especially when some of those accused of murder have shorter whole-life sentences.

Murders with a sharp instrument were down in2024/25 compared with the previous year.

“New figures from the Office for National Statistics show that police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales fell by 9% in the year ending September 2025, with 50,430 offences recorded.

This marks the second consecutive annual decrease and brings knife crime levels below those seen before the pandemic.

While this reduction is welcome, knife-enabled offences remain significantly higher than in previous years. Levels are still around 54% higher than a decade ago, and serious violence and robbery continue to account for a large proportion of recorded offences.” Knife Crime Statistics | The Ben Kinsella Trust

We must, as a society continue to do more to reduce violence, and to protect those in the frontline, including teachers. However, I don’t advocate Knife arches for schools, but I do think this is an area within SEND that needs more attention. Whether a reassessment of EHCPs at the end of primary schooling would help is an interesting question, but I would hope that risk assessments already take place. I would be interested to know if the girl in question has an EHCP at the time the crime was committed?

Liz, the victim stated in the BBC interview that

We’re not getting the financial support within schools, within external agencies such as youth services, mental health services, all of those supportive services… all of that is being eroded.”

We do need to ensure that we don’t just focus on SEND in schools, but do ensure the decline in youth services is reversed. It is not good enough just to focus our attention on what happens in schools and colleges.

I don’t want knife arches in schools

Posted on October 9, 2025 by John Howson

The BBC has conducted a survey of knife crime in schools, using Freedom of Information data from police forces. Children as young as four taking knives into school, BBC finds – BBC News

As regular readers of the blog know, this is a topic of personal interest to me because of what I experienced as a teacher nearly 50 years ago. Knife crime: do we need mandatory sentences? | John Howson

I am sorry for the mother whose son was stabbed to death in school by another pupil, that death, as any death anywhere, is a matter of shame on society.

However, I think that the general secretary of ASCL quoted in the BBC piece has it about right.

‘The Association of Schools and College Leaders says while it is relatively rare for pupils to bring knives into schools, it would like to see greater efforts across society to tackle the issue.

“More than a decade of cuts to community policing and youth outreach programmes has meant school leaders, too often, find themselves with little or no support,” says general secretary, Pepe Di’lasio.’

Cuts to youth services and too many images of knives in entertainment don’t help, as does a lack of teachers serving in high-risk schools long enough to build relationships with pupils.

It is interesting that the academy trust mentioned by the BBC as introducing metal detection arches is located in the West Midlands. The police in that area, according to the BBC, report much higher levels of knife crime incidents in education establishment than other police forces, so perhaps for now some form of detection is acceptable.

However, I would not want detection arches to become a permanent feature or school life. At some point society has to defuse such situations. Schools should not become like airports, after all rail and underground stations function without metal detectors, but not without incidents.

There needs to be a risk assessment, and the issue needs to be kept in proportion. In 2024, the BBC data showed an incidence of 21 knife offence in schools per 1,000,000 students. If there are 6 million students that’s 126 offences per year. I think that the expenditure on knife detecting arches could be better spent elsewhere, and such arches won’t protect students on school buses before they reach the school.

For those children below the age of criminal responsibility, any child with a knife is a matter for Children’s Services, and for parents to explain how their child could leave home with a knife.

Finally, I would ban knives and swords from shop window displays. Such display glorifies weapons, and have no place on our high streets.

For those that want to know more about young people and knife crime this presentation by the youth Justice board from August 2025 is a useful introduction. Knife Crime, Key Evidence and Insights, Aug 2025

According to the government, in the year ending March 2024, there were just over 3,200 knife or offensive weapon offences committed by children resulting in a caution or sentence, which is 6% fewer than the previous year but 20% greater than 10 years ago. This is the sixth consecutive year-on-year decrease.

In the latest year, the vast majority (99.7%) of knife or offensive weapon offences committed by children were possession offences and the remaining 0.1% were threatening with a knife or offensive weapon offences.

In the year ending March 2024, 61% of disposals given to children for a knife or offensive weapon offence were a community sentence. This proportion is broadly stable over the last 10 years.

The proportion of children sentenced to immediate custody was 7% in the last year, which is the same level it has been for the last three years. Youth Justice Statistics: 2023 to 2024 – GOV.UK

Sad end to term

Posted on July 10, 2023 by John Howson

It is now more than nine years since a teacher died after being stabbed in her classroom by a pupil. The news today from Tewksbury reminds us that although rare, and nowhere near as common as such incidents in the USA, teaching is not an entirely risk-free activity, as I know from personal experience.

My thoughts and best wishes are with the stabbed teacher, their family and any pupils that witnessed the attack. I hope the teacher was no badly hurt. Below, is the post I wrote when the teacher was stabbed to death in her classroom in 2014.

Condolences | John Howson (wordpress.com)

Condolences

Posted on April 28, 2014

The news of the stabbing to death of a teacher in Leeds is both truly shocking and saddening at the same time. Fortunately, such deaths in schools are rare in the United Kingdom, and it is no small irony that this fatality happened in a Roman Catholic school in a challenging area just as the death nearly 20 years ago of head teacher Philip Lawrence did in north Westminster. We may live in a post-Christian society, but the Churches still offer education in many of the more disadvantaged areas of our country.

My thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of the teacher, as well as the pupils and those that work at the school, and the wider local community. Nearly 40 years ago, I was the victim of a classroom stabbing by an intruder that could in different circumstances have ended in a fatality. As a result, I can understand something of the grief such an unexpected event give rise to. Fortunately, unlike in my day, there will no doubt be extensive counselling offered to all concerned. I don’t know the circumstances of this stabbing, except that the news bulletin says that it was a female teacher in her 60s who presumably had been at the school for some time. More will no doubt come out over the next few days and then at the subsequent trial.

The Court of Appeal has recently taken a tough stand on the carrying of knives, and rightly so if we are to reduce the incidence of violence still further in society. But, despite all the draconian laws it is impossible to entirely prevent attacks where there is a will to do violence to another.

Finally, perhaps the Secretary of State might consider a memorial in the new offices for the DfE after they move to Whitehall in 2017* that recognises the sacrifice of the small band of teachers that have given their lives to their profession. There may not be many of them, but they deserve not to be forgotten.

*Such a move never took place, but the idea of a memorial might still be worth considering.

New readers start here

Posted on April 20, 2021 by John Howson

There are a bumper set of local elections across England on 6^th May. Some people are finding their way to this site as a result of the fact that I am defending my county council seat in Oxfordshire and also standing as the Lib Dem candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner in Thames Valley – as I did in the previous two elections for this post.

To help those reaching the site as a result of wanting to know more about my published views on this blog, I have brought together some links to posts over the years. Some are more personal than others.

Over time views may also alter as circumstances alter. Thus schools becoming academies is now a different matter to the situation when this blog first started.

Any way here are links to some posts you might want to read first:

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2019/03/07/knife-crime-must-be-tackled/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/knife-crime-do-we-need-mandatory-sentences/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/rods-poles-and-perches/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2019/03/11/support-youth-justice/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2018/11/14/isolation-poor-use-of-funding/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/upturn-in-average-number-of-young-people-in-custody/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/supreme-court-one-parliament-a-half/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/time-for-jacobs-law/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/memories/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2019/04/05/a-parent-in-prison-is-not-a-crime/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2018/08/28/crime-and-a-lack-of-learning/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2018/04/14/the-responsibility-of-us-all/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/thank-you-mr-taylor/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/can-we-halve-the-number-of-women-in-prison/

https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/youth-numbers-in-custody-halve-in-a-decade/

There are rather more than I remembered writing, but with more than 1,100p posts I guess that isn’t really a surprise.

Reflections on half a century of education

Posted on January 4, 2021 by John Howson

Half a century ago this week I started my teaching career at a comprehensive school in Tottenham. I have before me, as I write this blog, the actual letter, dated 4^th December 1970 from the Chief Education Officer’s representative, appointing me to the unestablished staff of Haringey Council, as an assistant teacher at Tottenham School for the spring term of 1971. Interestingly, it was during the only period of the Council’s history when it was under Conservative control (1968-1972).

The letter from the council also contained the phrase ‘or such other school maintained by the Council to which you may be called upon to serve’. In practice, I remained at the school until December 1977, when my journey to Oxford and a very different future began. I also have the letter detailing my starting salary of £1,325 per year including a London Allowance payment of £85 per year and the grant of one increment for post-18 study! As I marvelled at the level of my father’s starting salary in 1936, so readers of this blog just starting out may wonder at such an apparent paltry sum of little over £100 a month before stoppages.

At least one regular reader of this blog will recall, Tottenham School had a reputation for music and drama that continued from the selective school from which the comprehensive school had emerged. The comprehensive school was a tough baptism for a new and untrained teacher, because many of the staff had never before taught those that had not passed the 11+ examination and had previously been educated in secondary modern schools, where the class teacher model rather than the subject teacher approach had been the norm. Both pupils and teachers found it difficult to adapt to the new situation.

My appointment had come about as a result of a staffing crisis facing schools as pupil numbers were on the increase, as now, and insufficient people were being trained as teachers. I joined as an untrained graduate, expecting to stay until the summer and then to undertake a higher degree course, perhaps at a Canadian university. The departure of the Head of Geography for a deputy headship at the end of May changed all that, especially as the other full-time geography teacher was expecting to emigrate to Australia the following December. Suddenly, I became acting head of department after two terms of teaching. Not a promotion that I would now encourage, but one that I was happy to take at the time.

The highlight of my six years at the school was seeing the first comprehensive sixth from students win a prestigious adult drama festival with a production of The Bald Prima Donna by Eugene Ionesco. The low point, probably the classroom stabbing in January 1977.

There were many great colleagues and pupils that I came into contact with during those years. Some, sadly no longer with us. There were many things that happened that would be more than frowned upon today, but a happy accident of chance set me on a road I still enjoy travelling.

Knife Crime must be tackled

Posted on March 7, 2019 by John Howson

Those readers that have followed this blog since its inception in 2014 will know that I have written sparingly about the issue of knife crime. They will also know that I write from personal experience. In 1977 a pupil excluded from both a mainstream secondary school and then a special school entered my classroom and stabbed me in front of a class of pupils: luckily I survived.

I think my comments on the issue of exclusions and knife crime, today’s current topic for debate in the media, were best summed up in my post of 14^th April last year under the heading ‘The responsibility of us all’. https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/2018/04/14/the-responsibility-of-us-all/

The most telling paragraph is not about the deaths but that:

NHS data shows a 63% increase over five years in the number of children aged 16 and under who have been treated for stab wounds in England. The largest increase (85%) between 2011/12 and 2016/17 was among 15-year-olds. The overall rise in the number of stabbings across England during the same period was 14%.

Like my experience, most of these could have been near misses. As I pointed out last year, exclusions have always been greatest among 14 and 15 year old boys.

What was also interesting today was to hear the Mayor of London on the BBC’s Today programme apparently recognising the role local authorities used to play in education; not least in coordinating what happens to excluded pupils. The role of local authorities is one, although unfashionable, I have consistently championed through this blog.

I am also interested to know how many local authority scrutiny committees have focused the spotlight on exclusions in recent years: Oxfordshire Education Scrutiny Committee has done so, and you can find link to their report by using the search facility on WordPress.

The reduction in the use of youth custody has been a positive outcome of the change in the approach to penal policy and sentencing in recent years, and I do not think locking up fewer young people has contributed to the rise in knife crime and the associated deaths and serious injuries.

However, I do think the almost complete destruction of youth services and the speed with which ideas can be transmitted through social media may be important factors. Much has been made of gangs, and what happened in Lancashire recently was horrific, but the stabbing of individuals on suburban streets and in other public spaces merits the question as to what was behind these seemingly senseless acts of violence. Were they gratuitous or was there a motive?

Much has also been made of the spread of drugs and the ‘county lines’ that have recreated modern ‘Fagins’, with control over the lives not only of those that run drugs but their families and friends.

Tacking these complex problems while also staying alert for the threat of terrorism almost certainly demands more resources for our police. Schools may also need more targeted resources to cope with challenging pupils. Will this mean a move back towards are more hypothecated distribution of funds, thus curbing some of the freedom schools currently enjoy?

The responsibility of us all

Posted on April 14, 2018 by John Howson

The following item was reported in several newspapers earlier this week, including The Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/11/child-stabbings-rise-63pc-amid-disturbing-trend-younger-knife/

Now there may not be a correlation, but 15-year olds, and 15-year old young men in particular, have the highest rate of exclusions from our schools. After falling for many years, exclusions are also on the rise across much of England.

As those that know my life history will understand these two sets of statistics and particularly the one about knife crime have an especial resonance with me, as it was a teenager that stabbed me over 40 years ago in a rare act of serious and unprovoked violence that just happened to take place in a classroom in front of a group of children. As a result, knife crime has always been of special concern to me. I do view the recent upturn as a worrying trend.

Oxfordshire’s Cabinet will be discussing the County’s Education Scrutiny Committee report on exclusions in the county at their meeting next Tuesday. You can read the report in the Cabinet papers for 17^th April 2018 at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk at item 6. I always hope that young people engaged fully in education will be less likely to commit these acts of knife crime.

I am also sure that cutbacks in both the Youth Service budget and that of the Youth Offending Teams across the county, along with revisions to Probation, probably haven’t helped in the prevention of such crimes. As ever, cutbacks have consequences further down the line when the money is being well spent.

In this case, changes in the nature of the curriculum probably may also have played a part since practical subjects have also too often been replaced with additional classroom time that can make life more challenging for many teachers working with pupils that don’t appreciate their efforts.

I believe there needs to be a concerted effort on the part of all responsible to once again recognise the need for behaviour management and to do everything to research and investigate the causes of exclusions in their school. Generally, persistent disruptive behaviour is given as the reasons for the largest number of exclusions. Working out how to reduce these exclusions should help allow resources to then be focused on dealing with other reasons why pupils are excluded.

It doesn’t matter whether schools are maintained, voluntary added, academies or free schools, they all have a responsibility to tackle this problem of school children carrying and using knives. Teaching Schools, National Leaders of Education and of Governance and those responsible for both training new entrants into the profession as well as designing continuing professional development will also need to ensure that they continue to make behaviour management strategies a high priority.

Supreme Court one; Parliament a half

Posted on June 22, 2014 by John Howson

This has been a busy week, so I am catching up on various issues. The Supreme Court decision announced last week that cautions are no longer to be required to be disclosed for life makes real sense in a world where a volunteer pensioner reading to under-fives can currently be required to disclose all criminal convictions, even those acquired half a century ago.

Now I think is the time to bring the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and the disclosure rules into harmony so that everyone can easily understand what is required and why. This would include the police and the issue of ‘soft intelligence’. It would be silly if cautions, having been removed as part of the criminal record, reappeared in enhanced disclosures as part of ‘soft intelligence’ held by police and disclosed as part of the process of ensuring unsuitable people don’t work with children or vulnerable adults.

I have awarded a half to parliament because of the work of the group of parliamentarians that appeared at almost the same time as the Supreme Court judgement saying much the same thing. Less, helpful, as those who followed my blog after the stabbing of the Leeds teacher will know, was the actions of Labour and Conservative back bench MPs ganging up together to insert a new clause in the Bill currently going through parliament requiring mandatory prison sentences for anyone convicted of two offences of carrying a bladed instrument: a knife to you, me and the MPs.

To their credit most Liberal Democrats MPs voted against this proposal, and would presumably be happy to leave judgement on sentencing to the courts within the framework of a maximum tariff set down by parliament and the guidelines from the Sentencing Council.

How little there is to distinguish Labour and Tory policies also became apparent this morning in the interview the Labour Secretary of State gave to the Sunday Times. He is reported as saying that all two-year olds should be sent to school because basic skills such as counting and holding a pen are easier to grasp at school rather than at home or with under-qualified child minders. This sends a shudder through me. I suspect most two year olds aren’t ready for fine motor skills required in holding a pen, and as a colleague emailed me:

Knowledge is now available through a keyboard and touchscreen and increasingly important works are available online. I was delighted to find Fuster’s “Prefrontal Cortex” and Hubel’s “Eye, Brain, and Vision” available for free download. The basis skill for writing is therefore keyboarding, not pencil printing. And mathematical comprehension is derived from language not perception, so the best way to learn number is by playing with the symbol system on a calculator first. Remember: language is a set of arbitrary symbols with which children come to school equipped. When will politicians and academics understand that all improvement is technology-based? At present all appear to be in denial.

There is certainly a debate to be had about the importance of early writing skills in a technological age where two –year olds won’t retire from the labour market until the 2080s if present trends continue. By then, pens might be restricted to use in calligraphy as an art form. I might have been more impressed if Mr Hunt had suggested the use of turtles and coding to make them run around the floor. But, he is a historian, so perhaps he is better at looking backwards than forwards.

Knife crime: do we need mandatory sentences?

Posted on May 9, 2014 by John Howson

There was a debate on the Today programme this morning about mandatory prison sentences for possession of a bladed instrument – to use the formal legal terminology – carrying a knife to you and me. A mother whose son had been killed while attending a party as a teenager was advocating not just prison for using a knife, but even for just carrying one; presumably as a means of deterring young people from so doing. Simon Hughes as the Minister had a difficult job talking about a policy on mandatory sentences advocated by one of his ministerial colleagues that his party leader has publically disagreed with.

As regular readers of this blog will know, I have a personal interest in knife crime for reasons I don’t need to discuss again in this post. However, as I have written in a piece for the Church Times, by coincidence published today, I am opposed to mandatory prison sentences for carrying a knife or other bladed instrument. Unlike the mother interviewed on the Today programme, who dismissed the courts out of hand, I have more faith in the judiciary and the guidelines set down by the Sentencing Body and the higher courts, including the Supreme Court.

As well as being a victim of a knife crime, I also served for 20 years within the justice system, so I have considered this issue in my mind several times over the past few years. Draconian laws will have some effect. However, fishing is the most popular participation activity for men in this country, and it usually involves carrying a knife. Going on a summer picnic may involve carrying a knife to cut the cheese with or even the bread. Automatic prison sentences for carrying knives in these situations? There would presumably need to be the exception for those carrying on their trade, carpet fitters, chefs, and no doubt those that work in many other occupations and carry knives from place to place. So, perhaps we should just consider banning the carrying of knives by those under the age of eighteen, as we do with the sale of alcohol or cigarettes; and punish both the seller and the purchaser with prison? It would have an effect, but since even some in custody seem adept at creating bladed instruments from what is on hand in prison, it seems that where there is a will there is a way.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I prefer a different approach based upon education and earlier intervention. The Museum of Childhood ran an interesting exhibition on the subject of knife crime some time ago and their very readable booklet can be found at: http://www.museumofchildhood.org.uk/__documents/teen_knife_crime_booklet.pdf (link no longer active – September 2018) What is clear is that social media and the internet have allowed those opposed to knife crime the opportunity to spread their messages as much as those that want punitive action.

I don’t condone violence whether with a knife, gun or a fist, but dealing with those with anti-social attitudes just by locking them up doesn’t completely solve the problem. Compared with a decade ago, knife crime, and many other crimes, seems on a downward trend. I remain to be convinced that harsher sentences will assist in reducing knife crime still further in society.

John Howson

Education and the numbers that affect what happens

Tag Archives: knife crime