Swords, axes and machetes seized from Black Country schools
Swords, axes and even machetes are among the 260 weapons seized in schools by West Midlands Police.
Shock new figures show how many blades were picked up from schools over the past six years. They include 80 across the Black Country.
In Wolverhampton 25 were taken by police, 20 in Walsall, 21 in Sandwell and 14 in Dudley. The force has also revealed the list of bladed weapons, which include flick knives, machetes and daggers.
The children caught with the weapons include three 10 year olds, including one in Wolverhampton in 2017/18.
Attempted murder
And the data obtained by the Liberal Democrats shows the range of reported crimes from schools. They include assaults, malicious woundings, GBH and even an attempted murder in Walsall in 2016/17.
Officers have also been called to reports of children possessing cannabis. Across the West Midlands, in and out of schools, the number of crimes reported to police for the possession of weapons has risen 12 per cent.
There have been several recent high-profile stabbings. There was a string of stabbings in four days in Wolverhampton last week, with attacks in Jameson Street, Owen Road, Ashland Street and Lime Street Park. Three of the victims were teenagers.
And lastthis week, 17-year-old student Ammar Kahrod was jailed for 17 years for stabbing fitness instructor James Brindley. Kahrod, of Walsall Road, Aldridge, was found guilty of murder.
Chief Constable Dave Thompson said he was concerned some young people were carrying knives as a form of protection. He said an education programme, involving schools and youth clubs, needed to be rolled out to encourage people not to carry the blades.
Mr Thompson said: “I think we need to take steps to change people’s behaviour and attitude.”
Liberal Democrats campaigner Rob Quarmby said: “I find it shocking that knife crime has risen, and by so much, in recent years and it is saddening to see so many children caught up in this violence.
“No child should be walking down the corridor of a school with a blade in their pocket. The idea that carrying a knife protects you, as some children are saying, sends a shiver down my spine.
“These kids are robbing knives from mum’s kitchen drawer or a screwdriver from dad’s tool shed that could, potentially, take a life in an attack. We are seeing a worrying spike in knife crime in schools. Our classrooms should not be a warzone.”
