One is a stunning cathedral city renowned for its 31 medieval churches, the other a prosperous market town in the heart of Surrey’s stockbroker belt.
But while both Norwich and Guildford have long been – and remain – two of Britain’s most desirable places to live, they are hiding a very modern menace.
The counties they grace have seen a steep rise in knife related offences over the last eight years – 196 per cent for Norfolk and an almost unbelievable 681 per cent for Surrey.
While knife crime in both areas remains relatively low compared to the rest of the country, they are representative of a wider phenomenon that is worrying police and crime experts.
MailOnline’s analysis of police figures shows other English and Welsh counties that saw the highest rise in knife offences from 2015/16 to 2023/24 are also largely rural in character.
In second place after Surrey was Gwent with a 240 per cent increase, followed by Norfolk and then Avon and Somerset (134 per cent).
So why are some of Britain’s most idyllic areas suffering surges in a type of crime more associated with gritty inner cities?
NORWICH: The city is considered one of the most desirable places to live in England, but the county in graces – Norfolk – is grappling with a dramatic rise in knife crime
GUILDFORD: The town is the second biggest in Surrey, which has seen a 681 per cent increase in knife offences over the last eight years
For criminologist Professor David Wilson, the answer is obvious – but the question of what to do about it less so.
‘This is a consequence of county lines drug dealing, with gangs in urban areas sending people into the countryside to sell their product,’ he told MailOnline.
‘When people move out of an area they have historically controlled into new territory that results in competition. In turn, you see an uptick in crime, and given our tough gun laws knives are the weapon of choice.
‘I wish there was a simple answer about what to do. But it’s not just an issue related to policing. It’s a societal and cultural issue affecting schools, youth offender teams and mental health services – all of which are currently under pressure.’
When MailOnline visited Norwich on a pleasant midweek afternoon, it appeared its usual peaceful, prosperous self, with a steady stream of shoppers browsing stores in the ancient market – which dates back to the 11th century.
Anyone visiting for the first time would be stunned to hear that, just weeks before, the city had witnessed a spate of youth violence that police said had escalated into ‘large-scale disorder’.
Norfolk Police have been grappling with a series of assaults, robberies and the possession of weapons in the city centre over the last two months, including a fight outside a shopping centre that led to two suspects being arrested at Gatwick Airport.
Another man will be sentenced this month after he was found to be carrying a knife at Norwich railway station, while a 17-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder over a stabbing on April 6.
Joe Dix, an 18-year-old from Norwich, was murdered after a county lines member called in his help to stop three drug dealers from burgling a known crack den
Friends and families enjoy an al fresco on a pleasant midweek afternoon in Norwich last week
Three days later, Norwich Crown Court heard how one victim was ‘lucky to be alive’ after being brutally knifed twice in four days – with some of the wounds coming close to his major arteries.
Riley Mckinley-Green, 18, admitted two counts of wounding with intent and one of affray and was jailed for four years and nine months.
In another notorious case, Joe Dix, 18, a member of Norwich’s notorious 3rdside crew, was stabbed to death in 2022 by members of rival gang Only The Money when he went to help a county lines drug dealer they were robbing.
Benjamin Gil and Cameron Palmer were both 19 when they were jailed for a minimum of 21 years in October 2023.
Among those sharing their concerns about knife crime was Roberto Labella, 20, who has lived in Norwich for 18 years and works at Subway sandwich shop.
‘I have heard a lot more about knife crime recently. I’ve also seen a few people with quite decently-sized knives on them. It’s quite scary,’ he said.
‘Before, I would never see anything. It’s [affecting] all the kids aged 14 to 16, or maybe a bit younger.
‘I have seen some guy walking around with a proper machete before. They don’t carry little ones anymore. It was down on Castle Meadow.’
‘It was absolutely terrifying. He must have been on something. He was throwing the machete around. It’s scary.’
Riley Mckinley-Green, 18, stabbed the same victim twice within a few days in Norwich city centre
Piles of cash seized by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) in an operation targeting county lines
A grimy stash house in Norwich that was being used as a base by one county lines gang
Asked why young people were carrying knives now, he said: ‘It’s social media. It’s glorified. All the drill artists are glorifying it.’
Like their counterparts around the UK, Norfolk Police are desperately trying to stop county lines gangs infiltrating their local areas from other parts of the country – often using couriers travelling in trains or taxis.
Gangs typically target vulnerable people, often children, to carry drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and heroin – typically using threats of violence and extortion to force them to comply.
Earlier this year, officers stopped one drug dealer in the market town of Thetford who had £6,000 in cash stuffed down his underwear.
Reece Irvine, 23, was also found with a phone that he was using to coordinate the ‘Scouse Chez’ county lines gang. He was jailed for five years and 220 days.
While a Liverpool presence in a county as far away as Norfolk shows some county lines still stretch long distances, this model appears to be changing – with many routes becoming shorter in recent years.
One expert who has observed this phenomenon is Cathy Haenlein, Director of Organised Crime and Policing Studies at the defence and security think tank RUSI.
‘We usually understand county lines as involving routes from cities like London and Liverpool to rural areas,’ she said.
Roberto Labella, 20, who has lived in Norwich for 18 years and works at Subway sandwich shop, said he had seen people carrying knives
A different world: Crowds walking along a cobbled street in Norwich city centre
A graph showing the rise in knife related offences across the whole of England and Wales, excluding Greater Manchester Police. Source: ONS
‘More lines appear to be staying within one county or police force area. That’s been attributed to more effective law enforcement action, but could be for a number of other reasons as well.
‘And while there are still children being exploited, fewer of them are recorded by police as being involved, while there has been an increase in recorded adult involvement.’
The nature of county lines drug dealing means it often draws in people with few or no links to serious crime, explains Ms Haenlein.
‘The whole business model depends on targeting people who may be particularly vulnerable. People can quite easily be drawn in without really realising.
‘That could be approaching people with promises or money or gifts – in person or social media – and trapping them into drug dealing.
‘You also see debt bondage, where vulnerable individuals are robbed and forced to pay off that debt. Another underappreciated issue is gaps in social service provision.’
Surrey is bordered by Greater London to the north, and it has long benefitted from the flow of well-heeled Londoners arriving their to settle or enjoy its delightful countryside and plentiful golf courses.
But its proximity to the capital can be a mixed blessing, with urban gangs targeting the county as a new market.
GUILDFORD: MailOnline visited the market town to speak to local people about Surrey’s rising knife crime problem – which experts largely blame on county lines gangs
Robert Zeqaj, 20, Konstantinos Baltasis, 23, and Fatjon Nezaj, 30, were members of a county lines drug gang moving drugs between Kingston-upon-Thames in outer London to Surrey
Popworld in Guildford was the scene of an alleged assault. Police were called to reports of a man in possession of a knife
London dealer Javan Restal travelled from London to Guildford to try and set up a county line before being arrested by police and jailed in 2023
Last February, police in Guildford stopped a silver Mercedes and arrested the driver, 23-year-old Konstantinos Baltasis, after finding 17 bags of cocaine stuffed down his trousers.
Three months later another driver, Robert Zeqaj, 20, was also intercepted and 27 sealed bags of cocaine were found in his car door.
Police later linked the men to Fatjon Nezaj, 30, of Kingston-Upon-Thames in outer London, who was taking orders for cocaine before sending couriers out to Surrey to carry out the deliveries. The gang received a total of seven years in prison.
Another drug dealer, Javan Restal, travelled from London to Guildford to try and set up a county line before being arrested by police and jailed in 2023.
In Surrey, the number of offences involving the use of a knife – including murder, rape and robbery – have risen by 13 per cent over the past year.
One man who knows the devastating impacts of knife crime better than anyone is Martin Cosser, 49, whose 17-year-old son, Charlie, was stabbed to death during a party at a £1.5million farmhouse in July 2023.
His subsequent campaign inspired local pubs in Guildford to introduce a scheme to install six bleed kits in six locations in the town.
‘Knife crime is not just a problem in inner cities. It’s not working class, it’s not just gangs. If it can happen to my little boy it can happen to anyone,’ said Mr Cosser, who lives in the Surrey village of Milford, six miles from Guildford.
‘Sadly it is everywhere. There is an affluent snobbery – it’s nothing to do with us, it doesn’t affect my kids. I think that is very naïve.’
Insurance broker Martin Cosser (right) has become an anti-knife crime campaigner after his son Charlie (left) was stabbed to death at a party
Police pictured at the scene of Charlie’s murder in the grounds of a £1.5million farmhouse
Yura Varybus, 17, was found guilty of Charlie’s murder and possession of a knife
Charlie – who was an apprentice groundsman at prestigious Charterhouse School – was stabbed in the chest three times after more than 100 people had gathered for the event held in a marquee in Warnham, West Sussex.
He suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to hospital, with internal bleeding caused by a cut to his aorta, the main artery from the heart, and died two days later.
Charlie’s teenage killer, Yura Varybrus, is serving a life sentence in prison for his murder.
In the wake of the killing, Mr Cosser quit his insurance broker job to set up a charity, Charlie’s Promise, to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives.
He has spoken to thousands of children in schools about Charlie’s story and wants to get knife crime awareness introduced on school syllabus.
The grieving father, who is a member of the government’s new knife crime coalition, said: ‘The impact of knife crime is immeasurable. One decision causes absolute destruction and devastation.’
Mr Cosser acknowledged that county lines drugs gangs are a key factor behind soaring incidents in rural areas.
‘There are 35 county lines gangs currently operating in Surrey and Sussex alone that we know of,’ he said.
‘County lines drug courier gangs exploit all sorts of things to do with children. They have various techniques. One of the things they do is hang around chicken shops after school.
Recent crackdown: Drug dealer Elijah Henry-Gooding, 27, was jailed for over two years for dealing drugs near Richmond station in south-west London
Sniffer dogs looking for drugs couriers during last year’s operation by the British Transport Police
Cash and luxury watches seized from a county lines gang operating from London in a raid by the Met Police
‘They clock the kids that aren’t going in to buy, basically they don’t have the money. They will offer to buy the food for them. The next week it’s ”Can you go and drop this off” and then something else and something else.’
One novel scheme has seen local theatre group the Guildford Shakespeare Company develop a knife crime awareness project inspired by a Romeo and Juliet theme which will be rolled out in local schools as part of an eight-week programme this autumn.
Despite recent incidents, locals in both Guildford and Norwich said that, on the whole, they still felt like safe places to live.
They included Preston Johnson, 37, the American owner and chairman of Crawley Town football club, who was enjoying a sunny day out in a park near the town’s ruined castle.
‘Everywhere in the UK feels safe compared with America. The whole gun thing there is insane. I can’t believe we have to deal with that,’ he said.
Even so, the phenomenon of county lines drug dealing – and the violence and exploitation it entails – is likely to remain a problem in the coming years.
The scale of the issue was shown by a recent crackdown by the British Transport Police, which led to the seizure of drugs weighing three-quarters of a tonne, an arsenal of deadly weapons and over £500,000 in cash.
As ever, demand dictates supply. And with locals in quiet towns and rural areas consuming illicit drugs in similar quantities to their urban counterparts, there will always be dealers willing to serve them.
