More than 150 first-time knife crime offenders in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire last year

Ministry of Justice figures show that 184 criminals were sentenced or cautioned for a first knife or offensive weapon crime in the year to June.

They accounted for 74 per cent of all knife-related cautions and convictions in the county and represented a 37 per cent increase on the number of first-time offenders during the same period five years previously.

The statistics include possession of, or threatening with, a knife or offensive weapon, and one sentence or caution can include multiple offences.

The rise was bigger than that across England and Wales, where 14,200 first-time knife offenders received a conviction or caution in the year to June – a 25 per cent rise since the 12 months to June 2014.

They made up 71 per cent of punishments, though this was down from the 75 per cent share five years earlier.

The figures also show that children aged 10 to 15 were convicted or cautioned on 22 occasions in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire – accounting for nine per cent of knife-related crimes in the area.

This was roughly in line with the proportion of knife crimes by children aged 10 to 15 was across England and Wales.

Labour MP Sarah Jones, chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on knife crime, said: “These figures provide yet more evidence that knife crime is a national crisis which continues to grow.

“What’s especially concerning is the number of new knife offenders, some as young as 10 years old.”

A recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on knife crime warned that children being excluded from school could be a “tipping point” that leads them to pick up the weapons.

The group has called for schools to be more accountable for the pupils they exclude.

Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said a future with “no qualifications, no job prospects and no role models” is making many young people vulnerable to gangs who coerce them into carrying knives.

“To break the cycle of violence we need to reach them before they reach for a knife,” he added.

“The Government urgently needs to work with charities, education, health, youth workers, the criminal justice system and local communities to find long-term answers and restore children’s hope, so they have a reason to turn away from crime.”

In Cambridgeshire, 35 per cent of convictions and cautions for knife-related crime led to an immediate prison sentence, roughly in line with the rate across England and Wales.

Mr Khan said: “Tough sentences are part of the solution, but we need to tackle the root causes and understand why those involved carry knives.”

Justice minister Chris Philp said the figures show that those caught carrying a knife are more likely to be sent to prison, and for longer, than at any time in the last decade.

He added: “But we are doing more to build public trust in the justice system – recruiting 20,000 police officers, extending stop and search powers and making sure the most violent offenders spend longer behind bars.”