Youth knife crime arrests surge almost 30 per cent over past five years

“Really concerning” statistics reveal a staggering 676 kids aged 14 and younger have been dealt with by police over knife-related crimes in the past financial year, as arrest numbers have exploded.

Arrests of young people for knife crime have increased 29 per cent in the past five years, with a staggering 676 kids aged 14 and younger dealt with by police in the past financial year.

The statistic has been labelled “really concerning” by the police officer behind a knife crime prevention campaign, while the father of 16-year-old Balin Stewart who died after being stabbed in the chest believes the trend is much worse than the figures show.

Queensland Police Service statistics requested by The Sunday Mail show that the number of people aged 10 to 21 arrested for knife crime jumped from 1236 in 2017/18 to 1597 by 2021/22.

Balin’s father, Michael Stewart, believes the shock figures are just the tip of the iceberg.

“Those kids were not the only kids carrying knives,” Mr Stewart said.

“They were just the ones who got caught.”

There were 11,334 offences involving knives reported last financial year, an increase of 22.6 per cent over five years.

Other data which takes in all actions by police, including arrests but also cautions, summonses and warrants, shows that 2774 youths aged between 10 and 19 were dealt with by police last financial year alone.

In the 10 to 14 age bracket, there were 676 offenders, of which 529 were male. From 15 to 19, there were 2098 offenders, with all but 369 of those male.

Balin Stewart, 16, was allegedly stabbed to death outside a Buddina house after a fight over a love interest went wrong. Picture: Instagram

The 10 to 19 age bracket had the most knife crime offenders, followed by those between 30 and 39, with 2133 people facing police action.

Eleven people were killed in knife attacks last financial year.

“One is too many,” said Mr Stewart, who found Balin dying on his front lawn on January 20 after he was allegedly stabbed by a 17-year-old male.

“Eleven is horrible because it doesn’t affect 11 people, it affects thousands.”

Mr Stewart and his wife Kerri-Lyn have created the Balin Stewart Foundation, with Mr Stewart now giving talks to youth about the dangers of carrying knives.

“I want to get in front of every teenager in the school system,” he said. “We need a consistent, ongoing advertisement and educational campaign that reaches kids before they start carrying these knives.”

Senior Sergeant Ken Murray said “it needs to stop" and the QPS planned a new campaign for next year in the Redcliffe to Sunshine Coast areas, following the “I live my life without a knife” campaign which ran from May to November last year.

He said that campaign which he spearheaded had been successful – with a 14 per cent reduction in rates of knife carrying incidents in public places in the campaign period – but “we need to continually do this to get that message out not to carry a knife in a public place”.

“We saw a reduction in crime during the campaign so it shows that those education and awareness programs can change culture.”

Michael and Kerri-Lyn Stewart have opened up about the night their beloved son Balin lost his life in an alleged stabbing and the impact it's had on their lives. Photo: Patrick Woods.

Sen Sgt Murray said the campaign found that many young people did not understand that carrying a knife in public was illegal and that self-defence was not an acceptable excuse to carry a knife. Many say they carry knives for protection, not to cause violence.

“When we’re talking knife crime, 60 per cent of the time we’re talking about carrying a knife in a public place, not necessarily the offences of robbery and assault and wounding,” he said.

“A lot of people think, ‘I just want to protect myself by having a knife on my person or in my bag’. Well no, you’re actually committing an offence.”

He said many youths were unaware how dangerous knives can be. “All it takes is for the knife to go in a few millimetres where it hits vital organs and you’re in some serious problems and may die,” he said.

“Kids think the knife is somehow powered to defend you or make the situation better when really, it just complicates things, makes things worse and can lead to some really serious consequences.”

Mr Stewart said the number of youths who carry a knife but have not been intercepted by police would be far greater than the numbers who have been caught. Some could carry a knife for a long period of time without using it – until they do.

“It only takes that one time,” he said. “Look what happened to us; one incident, one knife, one blow … and it takes a life.”