‘Alarming’ jump in proportion of knife assault hospital cases aged under 18

A ‘knife surrender’ bin in Chelsea, London (Andrew Parker/Alamy) -

Anti-violence charities have expressed alarm over data that suggests a growing proportion of patients who had been stabbed and admitted to hospital in England are aged under 18.

There were 3,900 instances of patients being admitted to hospital in 2023-24 where the cause was assault by a knife or sharp object, of which 13.1% (509) were aged zero to 17.