Knife crime in Lewisham

The other day, we set out our policy on reporting crime, arguing that crime statistics were one of the useful things we could report. So, reader Rob called our bluff - you like crime statistics, do you? Well here's a wodge of data about stabbings across London to wade through.

The data he sent us was a table of ambulance call outs in London for knife injuries over the last two years (Jan 08 - Dec 09) and broken down on a ward-by-ward basis.

As Rob pointed out, Lewisham's stats are relatively high, compared to many other boroughs (although inner London boroughs suffer a higher average rate than outer London boroughs). In Lewisham's case, the problem is particularly acute in the north of the borough, in wards like Evelyn, Lewisham Central and New Cross, which is in the top 10 wards in London, with 29 incidents over the two year period measured.

Telegraph Hill and Brockley fare better, but are still 53rd (16 incidents) and 72nd (14 incidents) out of 649 wards, respectively.

Downham (11 incidents), Sydenham and Whitefoot (both 10), Ladywell (9), Bellingham, Forest Hill, Grove Park, Perry Vale, Rushey Green (all 8), Crofton Park (7) and Blackheath (6) all perform relatively well for inner London, while Lewisham's best performing wards are Catford South and Lee Green (4 each).

Thanks to Rob for sending the data. Sort of.