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That seems a very high figure. Are there really that many people coming into courts with knives unaware they're going to be searched?

To try and put the figure in context, I wondered how many courts there are. As of Jan this year, the Gazette reported: "As at the end of November [2017] the courts estate had a total of 350 buildings, including 94 Crown courts, 160 magistrates’ courts, 210 county courts and 141 tribunals. This number is expected to be trimmed to 339 if the latest closure proposals go through."

So taking the buildings figure and 8000 knives confiscated, that's roughly 20-25 confiscated last year in each location, or (even more) roughly, about 1 every 10 working days per building. So perhaps not as extreme a figure as I first thought, but it still seems remarkable.

I assume they'll be a fair number of keyring type penknives, and perhaps a smattering of corkscrews with small knives attached. Is it too cynical to wonder whether they're including plastic disposable knives people want to eat their lunch with?