Drop in number of knife crime victims in A&E

9:20am Friday 24th October 2008

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THE number of people going to Accident and Emergency in Enfield with knife-related injuries has fallen steadily for the past four years, new figures show.

According to a Freedom of Information request, North Middlesex Hospital had 270 victims of knife-related injuries in 2005, 234 in 2006, 215 in 2007 and 170 from January to October this year.

The figures show that 16-20 year-olds are most at risk from this type of injury with 90 people in this age-group being seen in 2005, falling to 54 so far this year.

Chase Farm Hospital saw just 31 people admitted for knife injuries in 2006, 42 in 2007 and 32 in 2008.

Overall, under 25-year-olds made up 59 per cent of all knife related injuries at North Middlesex and 36 per cent at Chase Farm.

North Midd, in Sterling Way, Edmonton, has taken the brunt of knife-related injuries in the borough, with an average of 19 per month as opposed to just three per month at Chase Farm.

The figures also show that there were 44 casualties aged 15 or under at North Midd and two at Chase Farm over the past three years.

All injuries caused by knife crime are included in the figures; accidents with knives were omitted. However both hospitals said where the cause was ambiguous the figure is included.

North Middlesex was where teenagers Henry Bolombi, Iyke Nmezu, and Melvin Bryan were taken after being fatally attacked earlier in the year. There have been six deaths at this hospital over the past four years and 281 cases of life threatening injuries.

The four-year period coincides with public perception that knife crime is increasing, although this year’s British Crime Survey said that knife-enabled crime, which means any crime involving a knife, has remained static for 10 years.

Knife crime now accounts for six to seven per cent of all crime in the country. Edmonton is the in the top ten per cent of the most deprived areas in the country, and research from The Crime and Society Foundation shows that people living in the poorest areas of Britain were six times more likely to be murdered than those in the richest.

Roger Grimshaw of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies said the proportion of incidents involving young men from disadvantaged social groups was on the increase while attacks on men in higher class groups were decreasing.

According to the police borough commander Chief Superintendent Adrian Hanstock, Edmonton was on a police list of knife crime hotspots but has recently been taken off it.

The data for 2000 to 2005 is still awaited.

To see the latest table go to enfieldindependent.co.uk