DESPITE a campaign aimed at ridding Hampshire of the scourge of knife crime, there have been more attacks in the county than there were four years ago when the crackdown was launched, it has been revealed.

Despite extra Government funding being pumped into tackling the problem, the number of attacks involving knives has risen.

Official figures show that 32 people were admitted to hospital following assaults with knives or other sharp objects in Hampshire in 2009/10.

That is higher than the 31 assaults recorded back in 2006/7 and the 13 counted in 2007/8.

However, the figure represents a significant drop from the year immediately preceding it, 2008/9, when the number of stabbings reached 41.

The rise comes despite a series of initiatives by police, including issuing metal detectors to schools in Southampton and launching a service enabling youngsters to text police with information about peers who carry knives.

The campaign won the backing of Jeanette Singleton, whose son Lewis was stabbed to death in the city in March 2007.

She believes that the failure to stop the rise in knife crime is down to the justice system, not the police, and has called for the courts to hand out tougher sentences.

Jeanette now works with youths in schools to prevent them turning to knife crime, and she believes that educating the young is key to solving the problem.

She told the Daily Echo: “There is a particular problem with knife crime in Hampshire but I know that the police are working hard to prevent it.

“The problem comes when they reach court and the penalties are not there to deter the small minority that insist on carrying knives.”

It was at the end of 2008/9 – the worst year for knife attacks leading to hospital admission – that the previous Government announced that Hampshire was joining the Tackling Knives Action Programme because it was considered “likely to benefit”

from doing so.

The action programme, of which Hampshire is still a part, was intended to provide a significant injection of funding to increase stop and searches and the use of metal detector arches and wands at high-risk locations.

The programme, which was originally restricted to 14 police force areas but later expanded to cover 16, including Hampshire Constabulary’s, has been credited with reducing the number of people found carrying knives in participating areas.

Over the four-year period from April 2006 to March 2010, some 117 people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were admitted to hospital for stabbings. More than half of all patients, 46, were aged between 13 and 24.

The figures come from the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care, and cover hospital admissions for assault by a sharp object.

Acting Superintendent Alison Scott, in Southampton, where police launched their own antiknife campaign, said that they are committed to a long-term crackdown on the problem.

She added: “Knife crime is a priority for the police in Southampton and we are working with partners to reduce knife and sharps crime.

“Much work has taken place with young people, including producing a CD with an antiknife crime theme as well as test purchase operations.

“We will continue to educate and enforce with regard to knife crime to end the tragedies that occur if people carry knives.”

Hospital admissions for assaults by sharp objects

Year 18-24 Other ages Total 2009/10 6 26 32 2008/09 21 20 41 2007/08 7 6 13 2006/07 12 19 31 TOTAL 46 71 117