Knife crime epidemic: Figures reveal youngsters make up the most hospital admissions for stab wounds in west London

The number of children and young people being treated for stab wounds has increased across west London.

Data obtained by getwestlondon has revealed that people aged from 10-19 are the most affected by knife crime.

Across the boroughs in west London, youngsters were the age group most frequently admitted to hospital following an assault with a sharp object in 2016/17.

Out of 25 people from Hillingdon who were admitted to hospital with stab wounds in 2016/17, 10 of them were aged between 10 and 19, representing 40% of all victims in the borough.

The number is the highest on record in the past five years.

While six people aged 40-49 were treated over the same period in Hillingdon, young people were the most likely to be admitted to hospital following an assault with a sharp object.

This pattern is continued across west London, with 10 young people admitted to hospitals in Harrow over the same period, making up 36% of the 28 admissions for stabbings in the borough.

In both Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham, 30% of admissions for stabbings involved people aged 10 to 19.

Out of 60 admissions for stabbings in Ealing, 18 were people aged between 10 and 19, while nine young people were among the 30 admitted across Hammersmith & Fulham.

In both boroughs, the number of admissions for this age group was at its highest level for at least five years.

In Westminster, seven out of 24 admissions last year (29%) involved people aged between 10 and 19, although the number of admissions was down from 12 in 2015/16.

In Harrow and Hounslow, there were between one and five admissions of under 10s for stab wounds. The exact number was not disclosed in order to prevent identifying victims.

The NHS figures show that young victims of serious knife crime are making up the biggest age group, with the number of admissions up on previous years.

Across England, there were 4,351 admissions to hospital as a result of assaults with a sharp object, up from 4,054 in 2015/16, and this was the highest number recorded in a year since at least 2012/13.

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