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More than a thousand children were caught with weapons in school last year, according to a survey of 29 police forces in England and Wales.

The weapons included knives, blades, knuckledusters and a Taser stun gun, the Press Association survey found. The children included a 14-year-old with a sword and a four-year-old with an unnamed weapon.

Head teachers’ leader Geoff Barton said the findings were «grim but unsurprising». The survey, which follows concern about rising levels of knife crime, was based on Freedom of Information data from police forces.It found schoolchildren involved in incidents with many different types of bladed weapon, including lock knives, penknives, craft knives and garden shears.

In Bedfordshire, a pupil was caught in possession of a machete and in Manchester a samurai sword was recovered from school premises. Thames Valley police discovered a bayonet in a school and in the West Midlands, a 15-year-old was found in possession of an axe.

The figures showed 1,072 incidents involving weapons, up from 831 in the same areas in the previous year – but did not include statistics from the biggest force, the Metropolitan Police in London.

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Hundreds of people have attended the funeral of a police officer who was killed on duty.

Uniformed colleagues of PC Andrew Harper lined the route as the cortege made its way to the private service at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford.

The newlywed 28-year-old died from multiple injuries when he was dragged under a van on a road near Sulhamstead, Berkshire, on 15 August.

Thames Valley Police Federation’s chairman said PC Harper was «a hero». Paying tribute to PC Harper, who married his wife Lissie four weeks before his death, Craig O’Leary said he «loved being a police officer». «It is our sad duty today to pay our last respects to him and support his wife Lissie, his family and his friends at his funeral,» he added.
Members of the public paid their respects as the cortege led by mounted officers travelled through Oxford before the service which was attended by 800 mourners.

The coffin was draped in a navy flag with a police crest on the side and was carried into the cathedral at 11:00 BST by six officers in full uniform.

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French police have arrested five people linked to a knifeman who killed four colleagues at the Paris police headquarters earlier this month, reports and sources say.

The arrests took place early on Monday in the northern Paris suburbs.

On 3 October, police IT worker Mickaël Harpon killed three officers and an employee before he was shot dead. The attack has raised questions about how police failed to notice signs of his radicalisation in recent years.

One of the people arrested is an imam who officiated at a mosque in the town of Gonesse which Harpon attended, reports say. That imam is on France’s «Fiche S» list of potential security risks, one source told AFP news agency; he was not the principal imam at the mosque and did not preach on Fridays, Le Figaro reports.

On Friday, the mayor of Gonesse announced that the Muslim association which employed the imam had dismissed him.

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Four people have been injured after a number of stabbings at the Arndale Centre in Manchester city centre.

The shopping centre has been evacuated and trams have stopped operating at Exchange Square outside the main entrance.

North West Ambulance Service said it had treated four people after being called at 11:17 BST. Police said there had been no fatalities.

A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of serious assault.

Social media posts have shown a large number of officers at the scene and the suspect being Tasered. An image sent to the Manchester Evening News appears to show a patient being treated by a Starbucks cafe in the centre.Several people have posted on Twitter to say they had been evacuated.

A shop worker, who gave his name only as Jordan, 23, said: «A man was running around with a knife lunging at multiple people, one of which came into my store visibly shaken with a small graze. «Soon after, security staff told all retail staff to close their doors and move the public to the back of the stores.» Jordan, who has only been working at the centre for a few months, said the attack took place on the ground floor.

Two Scottish teenagers have been arrested over claims they hacked into the Metropolitan Police’s website and posted a series of bizarre messages.

The country’s largest police force was hit by a cyber attack in July and a series of tweets were sent from its verified account, which has more than 1.2 million followers.

A stream of unusual emails were also sent from the force’s press bureau.

The arrested teenagers are aged 18 and 19 and from Lossiemouth and Glasgow. They have been charged with carrying out the alleged hack by Police Scotland.

President Donald Trump used the incident to attack London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Quoting a tweet from right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins, which said officers had «lost control of London streets» and «lost control of their Twitter account too», Trump wrote: «With the incompetent Mayor of London, you will never have safe streets.»

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