Revealed: three people killed or seriously injured by knives every day last year in London

The shocking scale of knife crime in London was revealed today as new figures showed three people were killed or seriously injured in stabbings on the streets of the capital each day in 2016.

The Met statistics showed 60 people were stabbed to death last year, while 1,159 sustained serious injuries.

In total officers dealt with 21,365 knife crimes, including domestic assaults involving knives and gang attacks, in London in the 12 months of 2016.

The statistics, obtained by the Standard under Freedom of Information rules, show the total number of knife crimes rose by 17 per cent last year compared to 2015 when there were 59 deaths, 1,089 serious injuries and 18,202 less serious offences.

Last year, 4,316 people were threatened or injured with a knife or other sharp instrument compared with 3,846 in 2015, a 12 per cent increase.

Senior Scotland Yard detectives say they have managed to reduce gang-related knife crime but there is concern more young people are carrying knives for their own protection.

Police are now expanding tactics used by specialist squads, such as checks on retailers and weapon sweeps, to patrol officers in boroughs.

Southwark is the worst affected borough with 1,258 knife-related offences followed by Newham with 1,165 and Lambeth with 1,156.

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