6% rise in knife use sparks jail thugs call.

Byline: JAMES LYONS 

SERIOUS knife crime is rising with three stabbings or robberies every hour, it was revealed yesterday.

Blade thugs carried out more than 26,000 muggings and other attacks last year, up six per cent - police figures showed.

Senior officers admitted the problem is spreading and called for a crackdown so anyone caught with a knife is jailed.

Ministers insisted their Tackle Knives Action Programme, launched a year ago, has cut knife crime in the 10 areas where it operates.

They point to a drop in the number of stab victims needing hospital treatment and an increase in thugs being jailed.

But figures for England and Wales show there were 26,277 stabbings and knife-point robberies in the year to March, more than 70 a day.

That figure is up from 24,795 the previous year.

The total would be far higher if threats or illegal possession were included. It also excludes estimated 270 knife killings which are counted separately.

Ian Johnson, president of the Police Superintendents' Association, said: "There is an argument for a year-long initiative so that anyone stopped with a knife is given a custodial sentence."

The Mirror launched it's Stop Knives, Save Lives campaign after student Ben Kinsella was stabbed to death.