Teenager arrested in Leamington for possessing knife and drugs

A teenager was arrested for possessing a knife and drugs in Leamington Spa on Wednesday 13 February.

Reports of two teenagers “acting suspiciously” in Leamington’s High Street led officers to find a knife near where the boy had been sitting.

He was taken to Leamington Police Station, and received a youth caution after the drugs were found. He has accepted help from the youth offending service.

Detective Constable Steve Mobbs from the Leamington Offender Management Unit said: “This was a typical example of county lines drug criminals exploiting vulnerable young boys and having them traffic drugs from big cities into smaller county towns.

“We are committed to disrupting this type of offending and working with the young people involved to move them away from a life of crime.”

There has been a 22% rise in the number of recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument over the past three years in the UK.

49% of these offences resulted in assault with injury, or intent to cause serious harm. There has also been a 26% increase in the number of homicides committed using these instruments, from 209 to 264 in the last year.

39% of deaths are caused by knives or sharp instruments, compared with 18% by “hitting and kicking”, and 4% by shooting.

Knife crime includes carrying knives, or attempting to buy them under the age of 18, threatening someone with a knife, or committing a robbery or murder with a knife.

The maximum penalty for carrying a knife is four years in prison with a fine. To hand in a knife, “knife amnesty” stations are provided by the police.

Last month, a knife attack occurred outside Vialli’s, where a group of six to eight men carrying blades assaulted a 28-year-old who sustained serious injury to his leg.