ONE in 15 older teenagers have carried or used a weapon in the past year, a new study suggests, as three Bradford youths have been in court in the past two months for carrying a weapon.

Nationally, research found that from more than 13,000 17-year-olds in 2018/19 found that 6.4 per cent said they had carried or used a weapon in the previous 12 months.

Boys were twice as likely as girls to say that they had done so, with 8.8 per cent of boys saying they had compared to 3.9 per cent of girls.

Since April, three 17-year-olds – two boys and one girl – have been in court in Bradford for possession of a weapon in a public place, including a samurai sword, an axe and a knife, and in recent months a number of students have taken weapons into schools.

The information came from the UK Millennium Cohort Study that is following the lives of thousands of children who were born in the home nations in 2000-02.

Authors of the latest study, from University College London, said that a number of other behaviours and life events were associated with an increased likelihood of having carried a weapon.

These included substance use, mental health problems and being excluded from school, witnessing domestic abuse between parents, living in poverty and behavioural issues and hyperactivity between the ages of three and 11.

The authors said a range of factors were associated with teenagers who had carried or used a weapon in the previous 12 months, including “use of substances at age 14, having peers who use multiple substances at age 14, being excluded from school between age 11 and 14”.

Teenagers who had been excluded from school between the age of 11 and 14 were 1.5 times more likely to say they had carried or used a weapon; those who had used alcohol or drugs by age 14 were 1.2 times more likely and those whose friends used alcohol and drugs at 14 were 1.6 times more likely.

Those who had carried or used a weapon were also more likely to have committed other crimes, including assault, shoplifting, car theft and criminal damage.

They were 10 times more likely to say that they had been in a gang – 26 per cent compared to 2.5 per cent of teens who had not carried or used a weapon.

They were also 10 times more likely to have engaged in neighbourhood crime, such as breaking and entering, stealing from others, or vehicle theft (20 per cent compared to 1.8 per cent); seven times more likely to have committed criminal damage and arson (51 per cent compared to 6.8 per cent), and two and a half times more likely to have committed assault (66 per cent compared to 25 per cent).

More than a third – 36 per cent – of those who had carried or used a weapon had engaged in 10 or more offences in the past year, compared to 3.5 per cent of those who had not.

There was no evidence that ethnic minority groups were more likely to have carried or used a weapon than white teenagers.

The study concluded: “Strategies in childhood should target low family income, domestic abuse between parents, and child conduct problems.

“In adolescence, the focus should be on adolescent mental health, substance use, peer substance use, and school exclusion.

“Policies to help improve children’s lives earlier on may reduce the need for later intervention during adolescence as risk factors identified in childhood appear to be linked to weapon carrying or use through risk factors in the teenage years.”

At Youth Court in Bradford on April 26, a 17-year-old boy was in court for possessing a samurai sword in Lilian Street, Cutler Heights, on June 27 last year. He pleaded not guilty and the case will go for trial at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court.

He is also charged with a separate incident of affray last May which has been due before Bradford Crown Court.

On June 7, a 17-year-old girl from Bradford admitted possession of an axe, and going equipped for theft, on September 13 last year in North Yorkshire.

The girl admitted to having the axe and foil lined bags, and was referred to Bradford Youth Offender Panel for four months, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £22.

Also in court on June 7 was a 17-year-old boy for possession of a kitchen knife in a public place, as well as two counts of common assault and threatening to damage or destroy property on March 3, and also possessing a knife in a public place, two counts of using threatening or abusive language or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke violence, and thefts from shops at Morrisons on April 27 and Tesco on April 3.

The case has been adjourned until next month at Bradford Magistrates Court.