The criminal justice system in England and Wales dealt with more than 22,000 knife and offensive weapon offences last year – the highest number since 2010. 

In the 12 months leading up to June 2019, 22,306 offences were formally dealt with, according to Ministry of Justice figures published on Thursday. 

It is the highest number recorded since 2010, when 22,689 offences were dealt with. The figure also represents a 5% increase on last year. 

Meanwhile, data showed that offenders were now more likely to get an immediate custodial sentence for knife and offensive weapon offences – up to 38% from less than a quarter (23%) in 2009. 

The average prison sentence handed to offenders also rose from 5.9 to 8.1 months, the report said. 

The findings come on the same day that the Home Office revealed that the number of stop and searches carried out by police had jumped by a third in the past year – the first increase in eight years. 

Officers in England and Wales carried out 370,454 stop and searches under Section 1 of the Police And Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) in the year leading up to March 2019.