EXCLUSIVE: Number of children caught carrying weapons in school TRIPLES in five years

We can exclusively reveal that the number of children being caught carrying a weapon in school has tripled in the last five years.

The number of incidents reached 116 in 2017, when the youngest child being found in possession of a dangerous article was just eight years old.

Caleb Jackson, a youth leader for the charity Enthisiam Trust, working with young people in Manchester, said at the moment, schools do not know how to address the problem:

"There is no mechanism to act upon that type of information. It is your worst nightmare, because how do you go about fixing that? How do you fix it?

"Child Sexual Exploitation - schools are on the buzzer with that, there are places to call and people to speak to so everyone knows what to do if there is an incident.

"Nobody wants to say they've got a knife problem, by not taking that on first hand you limit the ability to have a multiagency response.

"We need to be preventative. Do things earlier. Work with everybody and share information."

Greater Manchester Police's Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said:

“Unfortunately, we know that increasingly young people are carrying knives, we also receive reports that on occasions they are being brought into schools. This is a sad fact of the current problems faced not just in Greater Manchester but across the country.

“Young people are not thinking about the dangers and are mistakenly connecting carrying a knife with safety and protection. We know that statistically there is a risk that you are more likely to be harmed by a knife if you carry a knife.

“Our operations to tackle knife crime are running throughout the year, these involve police going into schools and visiting youth groups. This is not an issue that policing alone can tackle however, so we will continue to work with our partners in local councils, schools and the health service to further understand why people are carrying knives and educating them on the consequences of doing so.

“We also need parents and carers to help us face the issue of knife crime. Have the conversation with the young people around you, speak to them about the dangers of carrying knives, it may be an awkward conversation but it is better to have an awkward conversation now than a devastating one later.