A four-year-old and a teenager armed with a sword are among 1,383 schoolchildren caught carrying weapons into schools in just over a year.
As well as knives; knuckle dusters, a hammer and a taser are among the weapons found on schoolchildren in England and Wales between April 2018 and August 2019.
The true figure is likely much higher as a number of forces did not respond to requests for information, including England's biggest force, the Metropolitan Police.
School leaders said the figures, obtained by the Press Association using a Freedom of Information request, were "grim but unsurprising".
Cases included:
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- A four-year-old found carrying an unnamed weapon by Dyfed Powys Police
- Devon and Cornwall Police cautioning a 14-year-old for bringing a sword to school
- A samurai sword found by Greater Manchester Police
- In Bedfordshire a schoolchild carrying a machete and another carrying firearm
- In Cambridgeshire, a fidget spinner, a type of popular spinning toy, fitted with a spike
- Nunchucks found on a 15-year-old in Leicestershire
- Thames Valley police discovering a pupil carrying a bayonet
Some 1,072 instances of children caught carrying weapons into school were declared by 29 police forces in England and Wales over the last financial year, up from 831 in the previous 12 months.
Another 311 incidents were recorded between April and August 2019. 49 children were said to be below the age of 10 – the age of criminal responsibility.
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Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney, National Police Chiefs' Council lead for children and young people, said that these cases remain rare but acknowledged that forces are seeing a small number of offences on school premises involving weapons.
"Serious violence is a growing problem amongst young people and we continue to work closely with partners to address this," she said.
Youth worker Lucy Martindale, who lost 11 family and friends to murder, gun and knife crime during a seven-year period, said: "The situation is getting worse, even just this year.
"Some young people I speak to say before they leave the house – where most people check they have picked up their keys and wallet or purse – they check they have their knives with them."
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the figures did not surprise him and blamed cuts inRead More – Source
