Midlands towns and cities where thugs most likely to be armed with guns and knives
And latest data has revealed the areas which have the biggest problems with weapons.
In many cases, these will have been thugs armed with knives but will have also included guns and other types of offensive weapons.
READ MORE: £200 for Nationwide customers not getting bonus payments
Get our local newsletters like Black Country News, MySolihull and MySuttonColdfield straight to your inbox
With its huge population and well-documented issues with deprivation and gangs, Birmingham unsurprisingly has the highest number of offences.
The central area of Birmingham has the worst crime rate anywhere in the country in terms of the proportion of people living there.
This gives each area a crime rate, based on the number of offences per 10,000 people.
Check the interactive map below to see the crime rate where you live:
A total of 151 weapons offences were recorded in this area, which has been the scene of numerous stabbings and shootings, giving it a crime rate of 232.7 per 10,000 people.
Digbeth has a high rate of 124.4 after 89 offences were recorded.
Over recent days, we have reported on a bus stabbing in Northfield and another attack in Bordesley Green.
In the Black Country, Walsall Central has the highest crime rate.
A total of 131 weapons offences were recorded in and around the town centre, giving the area a crime rate of 118.4 per 10,000 people.
The Black Country town has suffered a number of stabbings over recent years, prompting police to use special temporary stop and search powers.
Central Wolverhampton is another problem area. A total of 105 offences were reported in 2024.
To get breaking news emailed to you, sign up here, it's free.
The Government has unveiled measures to try to tackle knife crime.
Last month, the Home Office published plans to fine tech companies and their executives up to £70,000 for failing to remove content related to knife crime from their platforms.
The penalty includes up to £10,000 for executives and £60,000 for the company.
It follows last year's ban on zombie-style knives and machetes, the street name given to weapons which are over eight inches in length and often have a serrated edge.
A nationwide surrender scheme will launch in July.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Suspect in fatal shooting of four in Montana bar could be heading back to town, authorities warn
The manhunt for a military veteran accused of fatally shooting four people at a Montana bar stretched into the third day Sunday, as authorities warned locals to be vigilant as the violent gunman may return to town. Authorities believe the suspect, Army veteran Michael Paul Brown, killed four people Friday morning at The Owl Bar in Anaconda, about 25 miles northwest of Butte. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said Sunday that Brown lived next door to the bar and was a regular. Authorities believe he used his own weapon in the shooting. Knudsen warned residents in the town of 9,000 to stay vigilant, as Brown may try to return to the area. He was described as being 'armed and extremely dangerous.' 'This is an unstable individual who walked in and murdered four people in cold blood for no reason whatsoever. So there absolutely is concern for the public,' Knudsen said. Several public events were canceled over the weekend, and parts of a national forest nearby were shuttered as authorities' manhunt for the gunman entered its third day. Barker Lake and the surrounding area inside the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest were on lockdown, as investigators say they are considering all possibilities for Brown's whereabouts. Brown's niece, Clare Boyle, told the Associated Press that her uncle has struggled with mental illness for years – despite her and other relatives repeatedly seeking help on his behalf. 'This isn't just a drunk/high man going wild,' she said. 'It's a sick man who doesn't know who he is sometimes and frequently doesn't know where or when he is either.' Authorities also said Sunday that Brown, who served in the Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005, was 'known' to local law enforcement before the shooting. It's believed he knew at least some of the victims, though authorities have not provided any information about the deceased. Law enforcement shared a photograph of Brown taken on surveillance footage just after the shootings. In the image, he appeared gaunt and wearing minimal clothing. Brown fled the area in a white pick-up truck, but ditched the vehicle sometime after, according to Lee Johnson, administrator of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations. However, authorities now say he may have stole a different vehicle that held camping gear, shoes and clothing – meaning he may now be clothed. He was last seen Friday afternoon near Stump Town, authorities said. There's a $7,500 reward for any information that leads to Brown's capture. 'This is still Montana. Montanans know how to take care of themselves. But please, if you have any sightings, call 911,' Knudsen said. With reporting by the Associated Press.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Police watchdog probing death of man in custody
The police watchdog has launched an investigation into the death of a man who was found unresponsive in police custody. Ellis Rocks was detained by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers at the Britannia Hotel in Almond Brook Road, Standish, Wigan, at about 8.35pm on Thursday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said. Information indicates the 26-year-old was handcuffed and searched by officers at the scene before being transferred to custody, the watchdog added. Mr Rocks remained in custody overnight and an ambulance was called by detention officers at about 2.30am on Friday after he was seen to be unresponsive and lying on the floor of a cell. After paramedics arrived, he was taken to hospital but he suffered a cardiac arrest en route and resuscitation was commenced. Mr Rocks died in hospital at 7.20am on Sunday. After a mandatory referral from GMP, IOPC investigators were deployed in the early hours of Friday and an independent investigation was declared at 10.18am on Sunday. The watchdog has reviewed CCTV from the custody suite and body-worn video footage from officers involved in the arrest, it said. It has also been in touch with the force about receiving initial accounts from the officers. An IOPC spokesperson said: 'This was a tragic incident in which Mr Rocks has sadly died and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. 'GMP referred this matter to us, and as he was in the custody of police at the time he became unwell, it is important there is a thorough and independent investigation. We will examine all relevant matters including the interaction officers had with Mr Rocks during his detention and what happened after he arrived at the custody suite. 'We have made contact with his family to explain our role and will update them as our inquiries progress.'
CBS News
15 minutes ago
- CBS News
Man sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing, dismembering Sade Robinson after first date in Milwaukee
A man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole last week for the murder of a Milwaukee college student after their first date. Sade Robinson, 19, was murdered in April of last year. Her dismembered body parts were found in the Milwaukee Area, and her arm was found at a Waukegan beach. Maxwell Anderson, 33, was found guilty in June of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, arson of property and hiding a corpse. He was sentenced this past Friday. Authorities said on Monday, April 1, 2024, Robinson met Anderson for a first date at the Twisted Fisherman seafood restaurant on West Canal Street in Milwaukee. Robinson was last seen alive at Anderson's home. Robinson's 2020 Honda Civic was found torched the next day, and video showed Anderson leaving the scene where the burned car was found, prosecutors said. He was arrested two days later in a traffic stop by the Milwaukee County Sheriff's office. Prosecutors said Anderson mutilated Robinson's body, then dropped parts of her around the Milwaukee area. A leg severed at the hip was found by a passerby down a bluff in Warnimont Park on the evening of April 2, 2024, and then a foot was found four days later near 31st and Galena streets in Milwaukee's Walnut Hill neighborhood, CBS 58 reported. More remains were found in the weeks afterward. A torso and an arm were found at a remote stretch of tree-lined Lake Michigan beach in South Milwaukee on April 18, and later, an arm that is believed to be Robinson's washed up on the Waukegan Municipal Beach – 53 miles from Milwaukee. "After being killed, [Robinson] was disgraced in the worst way imaginable," Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan said at the hearing. Anderson's mother, father, and sister spoke at the sentencing hearing Friday. "He deserves the punishment that he gave to my daughter," Robinson's father, Carlos Robinson, said at the hearing. "Everything that he did to her should be done to him. That would be justice. I don't feel like he should be allowed to walk around and breathe air. The moment he did what he did, he lost that." "He made it to where I couldn't go to school without people giving me looks of pity, or no longer knowing how to interact with me, because neither them nor I knew what to say — for there is nothing you could say for what he did. He made it where I cannot ride my bike without random, but kind strangers stopping me, because they feel the need to pray for me and my family despite not knowing us," said Robinson's sister, Adrianna Reams. "He made it to where I cannot trust anyone — not just emotionally, but I cannot meet any person without fear that they're going to harm or kill me — because all my sister did was meet someone, and as a result, he ended her life." Robinson's mother, Sheena Scarborough, called Anderson a "devil" and his family "demonic," and used profanity to describe him as she addressed him directly. CBS 58 reported that when permitted to speak, Anderson himself insisted that he did not commit the murder. "From the bottom of my heart, my deepest and most sincere condolences go out to Sade's family, as well as everyone affected by this tragedy," Anderson said. He continued, "I took this to trial without ever once trying to make a plea deal of any kind, because I did not commit these crimes." CBS 58 reported that in a pre-sentencing interview, Anderson claimed an unknown assailant abducted Robinson, and her car was set afire by someone else trying to set him up. Anderson's father, Steven, also spoke on his behalf. But before pronouncing Anderson's sentence, Milwaukee County Judge Laura Crivello emphasized that Anderson had failed to take responsibility for the crime, saying in part, "I have to look at whether you're remorseful, and I don't think you're remorseful in any way." With that, she sentenced Anderson to life in prison without parole. Robinson's mother has also filed a lawsuit against two Milwaukee bars that allegedly served Robinson, who was underage at the time she met Anderson, CBS 58 reported. Robinson's family has also filed a civil lawsuit against Anderson.
