REVEALED: How more arrests for carrying weapons shows Northamptonshire Police crackdown on violence IS working

Police say a huge jump in crimes involving people carrying weapons in Northamptonshire shows their crackdown on violence is working.

Office for National Statistics data showed increases of nearly one-third in Corby and Northampton in the number of offences involving possession of weapons such as firearms or knives.

Chief Superintendent Adam Ward, the force lead on knife crime, said: “Because of our increased focus in this area we fully expected knife possession to increase in the county.

“We inevitably find weapons when we make more arrests and conduct more searches.”

Across Northamptonshire, weapons offences increased by 19 percent from 774 in the year to March 2022, up from 651 in 2020-21.

But that included rises of 29 percent in Corby and 32 percent in Northampton.

Small increases were recorded in Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire while figures fell from 65 to 60 in Daventry and South Northants.

At the same time, the overall number of violent crimes across the county rose by just a fraction to 27,219 from 27,122 last year.

Police pledged to up their game over tackling knife crime following a spate of high-profile incidents during 2021.

These included the deaths of 16-year-olds Dylan Holliday in Wellingborough and Rayon Pennycook in Corby.