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Prisons: Razors

Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 16472, tabled on 1 March 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2024 to Question 15436, whether assaults by razor are counted under (a) knife/blade or (b) other sharp instrument.

Answered on

6 March 2024

Assaults by razor should be counted in knife/blade, as the definition is “an object with a sharp edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces, skin, material”. However, as there is no formal reference to razors, we expect that some may also be in the ‘other sharp instrument’ category, defined as “objects or instruments which are able to cut, prick, cause injury and / or infection e.g.,needle, broken glass” and the ‘other’ category.

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