The proportion of knife carriers being charged with possession by police has fallen to a record low, a analysis of official figures shows.
The number of knife possession offences resulting in a charge has nearly halved in six years with fewer than a third ending up in court.
It comes as the number of knife offences has doubled to 26,500 over the same period, according to Home Office data for last year.
In the West Midlands, one of Britain’s biggest forces, just 13 per cent – or one in eight – of knife possession offences resulted in a charge.
It is one of eight forces in England and Wales – a fifth of the total – where fewer than a quarter of the knife possession crimes resulted in a charge.
Some experts suggested it could be the result of greater use of out of court punishments, such as community resolutions, as a way of dealing with a potential increase in the number of under-18s carrying knives.
Others suggested that it could also be linked to the way police recorded crimes.
More witness reports of offenders being seen with weapons – rather than caught red handed – may be being recorded as crimes, while knife possession might not be charged if it belonged to a series of more serious offences.
Rory Geoghegan, a former police officer who founded the Public Safety Foundation, said: “While there may always be exceptional cases, the overwhelming majority of those caught with a knife or other offensive weapon, irrespective of age, should expect to be charged and sent to court.
“Police forces and our courts should be doing all they can to send the clearest possible message that the carrying of weapons in public is wholly unacceptable.
Giving knife carriers the equivalent of a free-pass may suit the agendas of some activists, but it serves only to encourage the carriage of weapons.”
Gavin Hales, a senior research fellow specialising in policing, said: “When we look at outcomes overall for offences involving the possession of ‘points and blades’, we don’t see people being treated more leniently where there are sanctions.
“Rather, as overall crime volumes have increased, a growing proportion of investigations have been closed with no suspect identified or other evidential difficulties that have prevented charges.
“The reasons for those changes aren’t clear, but may include changes to the kinds of offences being reported to – and especially recorded – by police forces.”
The proportion of offences involving possession of a weapon with a blade or point resulting in a charge has dropped from 58.3 per cent in 2016 to 31.7 per cent last year.
The eight police forces where the charging rate has dropped below 25 per cent are Sussex (18.1 per cent), Hampshire (20.8 per cent), Greater Manchester (22.6 per cent), West Mercia (22.7 per cent), Gloucestershire (23.3 per cent), Suffolk (23.8 per cent) and Warwickshire (24.3 per cent).