Knife possession drops

Heart's got hold of figures for knife possession in Berkshire.

Thames Valley Police recorded 79 people aged from 0-20 as being in possession of a knife during any offence between April 2008 to April 2009.

Thames Valley Police recorded 47 people aged from 0-20 as being in possession of a knife during any offence between April 2009 to April 2010.

But the family of a Reading teenager - stabbed to death - has been telling Heart FEWER people caught carrying knives here is NO comfort.

17 year old Robert Spence from Burghfield Common was attacked and stabbed 16 times whilst out celebrating a friend's birthday on Friday 2nd May 2008.

His Grandma Doreen told Heart "Nothing can bring that little boy back.  My daughter, I don't think she'll ever get over it."

Meanwhile Robert's mum Sandra wants tougher punishments handed out to those caught carrying knives saying "life should be life."

Nationally the number of offenders punished for carrying a knife has fallen by almost a quarter.

The Ministry of Justice says a total of 5-thousand-300 people were dealt with by police and the courts in the first quarter of this year.

19 percent of knife possession offences led to jail - a slight fall in the 2009 figures.