KNIFE and bladed article offences are still nearly twice as high in Colchester as they were five years ago, despite the rate for that type of crime falling by six per cent in the last year.

Statistics obtained by the Gazette via a Freedom of Information request have revealed the number of knife and bladed article offences in individual police districts.

In Colchester the decrease in knife crime is among the smallest in Essex.

Essex Police’s own data shows there were 519 knife and bladed article offences recorded in Colchester in 2023, which is 94 per cent higher than the figure which was recorded in 2018.

Gazette: Falling... slowly – knife crime in Essex fell by 12 per cent from 2022 and 2023, but the rate fell more slowly in Colchester and TendringFalling... slowly – knife crime in Essex fell by 12 per cent from 2022 and 2023, but the rate fell more slowly in Colchester and Tendring (Image: Newsquest)

That 2023 figure for Colchester represents a six per cent fall from the number of knife and bladed article offences recorded in 2022 when the offence rate peaked at 556, but Colchester’s rate of knife crime is falling more slowly than almost every other Essex police district.

Other areas saw a far sharper fall in knife crime.

In Southend, knife crime between 2022 and 2023 fell by 21 per cent from 804 to 630, and in Basildon, the figure fell by 20 per cent from 817 to 652.

And while Colchester’s decrease was only six per cent, the drop in Tendring was lower, where knife crime fell by just three per cent from 391 to 378.

Across Essex, knife crime from 2022 to 2023 fell by 12 per cent from 5,396 to 4,728.

A spokesman for Essex Police has reiterated that the majority of people in Essex will not be victims of knife crime and that between January 2023 and January 2024, 33 per cent of the 177 serious knife crime offences recorded in Colchester were domestic in nature.

Gazette: Figures – in Essex Police districts, knife crime fell most sharply in Southend where there was a decrease of 21 per cent Figures – in Essex Police districts, knife crime fell most sharply in Southend where there was a decrease of 21 per cent (Image: Pexels)

He said: “Knife enabled crime is very rare in Essex. There are 89 serious offences involving sharp instruments/knives per 100,000 people.

“The vast majority of people in Essex have not been, and will not be, a victim of knife crime.

“In the 12 months end of January 2023 to end of January 2024, we recorded 1,486 serious violence knife offences across the county; a 10.37 per cent reduction to the same period between January 2022 and January 2023.

“Just over 37 per cent of those 1,486 offences were flagged as domestic-related.”