What happens to people who are caught possessing or using a knife?

If you are caught by police carrying a knife, even if it was for your protection or you were carrying it for someone else, you will be arrested and prosecuted.

You can go to prison even if you didn’t use the knife.  The maximum sentence for carrying a knife without good reason is four years.

If you murder someone with a knife, you could go to prison for life and you will have to serve at last 25 years.

If you are caught with a knife more than once, you will automatically go to prison for at least six months.

The average sentence for knife possession is now between seven and eight months.

From June 2018 there will be a mandatory minimum sentence of six months in prison for people who use any type of weapon to threaten someone.  Anyone who threatens someone with a knife or other weapon, including acid, will automatically be jailed for at least six months – no matter how old they are.