'Steady increase' in Sheffield knife crime incidents with 'unusual peak' in March 2023, report reveals

A report from Chief Superintendent Lindsey Butterfield of South Yorkshire Police states that between November 2022 and April 2023, a total of 493 knife crime incidents were recorded in Sheffield.

This equates to the equivalent of almost three reported incidents involving a blade taking place in the city every day.

In the report, which is set to go before South Yorkshire's Public Accountability Board next month (July 2023), Chf Supt Butterfield notes that there has been a 'steady increase' in the number of knife crime-related incidents, with an 'unusual peak' in March 2023, with a total of 104 recorded in Sheffield.

Between May 2022 and May 2023, The Star reported on a total of 22 stabbings carried out in the city, seven of which sadly proved fatal.

Most recently, 17-year-old Mohammed Iqbal was killed in a stabbing on Crookes on May 25, 2023.

19-year-old Adam Abdul-Basit; Bryan and Mary Andrews, aged 79 and 76 respectively; 47-year-old Saira Ali; Carlo Giannini, aged 34, and 26-year-old Reece Radford are the other six individuals who sadly lost their lives to knife crime during that period.

Speaking earlier this month, Superintendent Benn Kemp told The Star that tackling knife crime remains a 'priority' for South Yorkshire Police.

He continued: "We were one of the first regions, with a serious violence unit that was established and we we have a lot of initiatives that are ongoing with our partners with education establishments and with other organisations to really address this. It's not just a police issue.

“This is a sadly a societal issue, and it's been replicated across the UK and we are really committed to playing an important part and tackling that as a police [force], but we recognise we're not the only solution to this to this challenge. Last month we took part in Operation Sceptre. This was a national week of action to tackle knife crime, that led to 57 arrests 22 directly related to knife crime incidents and included suspected offences such as possession of a bladed article and so within that activity we actually recovered 55 knives removed from the streets.

"We've got eight knife bins in place across Sheffield, and that provides a way in which people can anonymously dispose of weapons so that they're not used on the streets. They're in partnership with other organisations. We conduct regular weapons sweeps or locations, where and you know specific incidents of knife crime may have been occurred in the past or where organised crime is believed to take place."