NEARLY a third of serial knife thugs are not jailed even after their FOURTH conviction for carrying a blade, The Sun on Sunday can reveal. The “slap on the wrist” sentences come despite a “two-strike” rule, which is supposed to guarantee custody for would-be robbers, thieves and violent attackers caught carrying weapons more than once. It is despite the number of serial knife offenders with three or more previous convictions skyrocketing by 89 per cent in a decade, from 666 to 1,261. And in another troubling knife incident, two students, 12 and 13, were stabbed at a secondary school in Brent, North West London. It means the proportion of serial knife offenders sent to prison in the 12 months to last June is the lowest it has been since 2014-15.

Source: The Times February 15, 2026 17:05 UTC