Hackney has the fourth highest rate of knife crime resulting in injury in London, and the fifth highest rate of knife crime overall, the latest figures show.

According to Met Police data, between December 2018 and December 2019, Hackney experienced 201 knife-related incidents that resulted in an injury and 757 knife-crimes in total.

The latest Hackney incident was the stabbing of a 15-year-old boy on Brooke Road, Upper Clapton on Sunday night (February 16) that has left the victim in a life-threatening condition.

An 18-year-old has been charged with GBH with intent and possession of a sharply pointed/bladed article.

The incident was one of three stabbings in the capital that evening.

Only Lambeth, Southwark and Haringey had more knife related injuries in the 13-month period up to December.

According to police data, there were five murders in Hackney in 2019.

A spokesperson for the Met said: "Violent crime remains the Met's top priority and officers are working flat out to target the most harmful individuals and hotspot areas.

"The Met is realigning its resources and using more data-driven deployments to tackle violence in all its forms."

Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons said: "Every single officer in the Metropolitan Police Service knows that tackling violence is their first priority. The public will see increased police activity as part our 2020 push to drive down violence in all its forms.

"It is the responsibility of all our officers and staff to identify, target, and pursue those involved in violence and safeguard the public.

"We are using intelligence and data in a more sophisticated manner to ensure we have the right people in the right places." 

Between December 2018 and December 2019, there were more than 4,000 knife-related incidents resulting in injury in London.

Last month Dawid Wycik was charged with murder after the stabbing of a 60-year-old man to death in a house on Mount-Pleasant Lane, Upper Clapton.

Five days earlier two men were stabbed in Finsbury Park on Seven Sisters Road.

Barrie Laslett, of Hackney-based youth charity The Wickers, said: "There are many factors that contribute to the current knife crime statistics. 95 per cent of young people carrying knives are doing so out of fear, not to do harm.

"The Wickers are extremely saddened by the current figures, everyone in the community needs to work together in order to turn this tide."