April 19, 2022 6.00 am This story is over 23 months old

Over a third of knife crime repeat offenders in Lincolnshire avoid jail, claims Labour

Blame has been assigned to the government for being “soft”
| Photo: Adobe Stock
By Local Democracy Reporter

Alarming statistics show a large number of repeat knife crime offenders in Lincolnshire have been spared immediate jail sentences in the past five years.

Statistics by Labour Party analysts found 16 areas in England, including Lincolnshire, saw more than a third of repeat offenders avoid jail for knife crimes since 2016.

The data showed 36% of repeat offenders in Lincolnshire were not given jail sentences for knife crimes in the past five years, despite the severity of the offence along with the previous criminal activity of the person in question.

Labour says national figures show 44% of serial offenders avoided jail in 2021, and there was a rise in criminals committing repeat offences between June 2011 and last year, from 12% to 18%.

(Left to right) Daniel Heydari, 25, Joe Jameson, 24, Eimantas Gochman, 20 and Billy Gill, 21, were found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

In the past couple of years, there have been a number of high-profile stabbing cases across Lincolnshire, resulting in the devastating deaths of Sam Davies in Lincoln, Roberts Buncis in Boston, Bethany Vincent and Darren Henson in Louth, Paul Barnett in Skegness, Christopher Higgs in Boston and Jordan Siree in Skegness.

The findings and recent rise in knife crime across the country has prompted Labour to point the figure at the Conservative government, accusing them of being “too soft” on crime and breaking manifesto pledges from previous years.

The Lincolnite contacted all 11 Greater Lincolnshire Conservative MPs about Labour’s accusations and statistics, as well as Lincolnshire Police, but were given no on the record responses at the time of publication.