These last few months we’ve being writing blog posts to inform our readers about the increasing trend in home, farm and shop/office burglaries. More worryingly, however, is that over the last quarter there has been a 10% rise in the amount of robberies using a knife.(source). These knifepoint muggings include theft of mobiles (smart phones in particular), iPods, handbags which may include home and car keys, wallets and cash.

In total, there were just over 15,000 knifepoint muggings and robberies – some so vicious that victims were murdeered for their personal possessions – with over half of these reported muggings taking place in London.

We understand that it is difficult to control knife crime on the streets. Cuts in the policing infrastructure won’t help either. However, what we can do is offer some form of help to help keep you safe if you are ever confronted with a knifepoint mugging.

In general, the best advice is to hand over your phone or any other personal belongings such as credit cards etc.. Mobile phones can be replaced, bank cards can be cancelled. It’s most likely that the mugger will be highly agitated and if they have a weapon such as a knife on themselves they may be intent on physical harm.

Try to remain calm and non-confrontational. Carry a personal alarm as this can be activated and give you valuable seconds to make your escape if the situation worsens and you feel you are likely to be attacked. Once the ordeal is over, report the crime to the nearest police station, don’t bottle things up, it’s understandable that people get extremely emotional after being confronted with a knife crime. However, if you report it to the police, your actions might stop the same ordeal happening to some other individual.