(CNN)Children are most likely to become victims of stabbings as they walk home from school, a London study has found, as its authors warn of the “endemic” nature of knife crime among youths in the UK capital.
The risk of stabbing for children younger than 16 jumps significantly in the immediate hours after schools close, with crimes usually occurring close to a victim’s home, according to research by doctors at Queen Mary University, published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Open.
The findings underline the worsening epidemic of violent crime in the city, where homicides have risen for the third consecutive year and have prompted calls for a greater focus on preventative techniques to tackle knife crime.
