Live episode: Pint of Science part two - Is stabbing someone with a fork "knife crime"? What administrative data reveals about violence in the UK

Connecting Society: How everyday data can shape our lives · Jul 30, 2026 · 39m

A fork used as a weapon. Scissors used to cut off someone's hair without consent. A knife nobody actually sees. Criminologist Professor Iain Brennan puts this Pint of Science audience through a live quiz, revealing that there's no single legal definition of "knife crime". What counts depends entirely on how the government chooses to measure it.

Iain, Professor of Criminology at the University of Hull, joins hosts Shayda Kashef-Tomlins and Mark Green to share findings from his ADR UK-backed research. Children excluded from school are 22 times more likely to have a caution or conviction for…