Almost 200 people admitted to hospital after being stabbed in Lincolnshire
The figures cover the last 9 years
Almost 200 people in Lincolnshire have been admitted to hospital after being assaulted with a knife over the last 9 years.
The figures have been released as officers crack down on the crime as part of Operation Sceptre.
16-year-old Liam Mawer was stabbed in the stomach last year by a 14-year-old in Alford, his mum Lynsey says he's lucky to be alive.
"Everything happened in autopilot, I just ran from my house to Liam, just to see a 16-year-old lad laid on the floor with a pool of blood around him.
"He was very grey looking, he was conscious, luckily enough he was talking.
"They got a defibrillator on Liam, just in case. The ambulance did arrive a little while later, but it seemed like a lifetime just to wait for that ambulance and then the air ambulance was also called to get him to Nottingham."
She says when knives are involved, lives can change in a matter of seconds.
"Someone videoed the incident and I’ve seen the video and it happens so quick, so the people need to realise the impact on life it has within a matter of seconds.
"He could have changed our lives forever.
"Lucky enough Liam’s got no long-lasting damage, he’s got three scars, but mentally impact, it’s affected him.
"I think a lot of people are using the knives because the sentencing is so short, he only got 12 months community service.
"In Liam’s eyes he believes his life is only worth someone cleaning the streets for 12 months."
Police say knife crime is low in the area, but the force can't afford to become complement.
It says education and enforcement are key in the goal to keep the county free of violent crime.
It's now launched Operation Sceptre, a national campaign that takes place twice a year, in an attempt to keep people safe from offensive weapons.
So far this year, there have been 42 offences for possession of an offensive weapon, and a further 146 public order offences which intimated, referenced or involved an offensive weapon.
During this week, there will be:
• Knife bins at the front desks of police stations in South Park in Lincoln, Boston, and Sleaford. Knives or other offensive weapons can be dropped off with no consequences, where they will be disposed of safely.
• School engagement to educated young people around the dangers and consequences of knife crime.
• Those identified as having carried knives in the past, or as potentially likely to in the future will be actively contacted and educated about the dangers and repercussions of knife crime by our Neighbourhood Policing Teams.
• Our mobile digital screen will be out in populated spots across the East of the county with educational knife crime messages.
Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire Police, which covers Newark, recorded over 700 hospital admissions, and Humberside Police over 500.