at knifepoint

イングランドとウェールズにおける殺人事件の総数は，前年にくらべ５％上がったようです。一方で，犯罪自体の総数は前年と同じくらい。The Guardianが伝えています。（Othello）

なんでもない表現です。アメリカのような銃社会ではないイングランドをよく表した表現だと思います。at knifepoint。もしこれが，アメリカだったら at gunpointになったのでしょう。一応定義を見ておきます。

at knifepoint　using a knife to threaten someone:
An eighty-year-old man was robbed at knifepoint in his home.

Murder rate rose 5% last year
But Home Office figures show overall crime remained stable or even fell despite the August riots

The murder rate in England and Wales rose by 5% last year to 636 but overall crime remained stable or even fell despite the August riots, according to Home Office figures.
The quarterly crime figures covering the 12 months to September 2011, however, reveal a worrying rise in robbery and some kinds of theft, including a 10% rise in robberies at knifepoint to 15,313.
（後略）

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jan/19/murder-rate-rose-5-percent