The sharp end of knife crime

7:38am Wednesday 9th July 2008

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ANOTHER week, another young life lost in our capital city.

And more silence from those who should be treating this threat to our society far more seriously than they currently are.

While the 42-day detention proposals continue to keep the minds of the Government and most MPs busy, the blood being spilt on our streets via a blade has reached a level that should have every politician looking for a way to stop this rising crime epidemic.

The best our Prime Minister has offered so far is conclude that anyone found in possession of a knife should be prosecuted. Welcome to the real world Mr Brown, but most law abiding citizens have felt this way since the 80s. And of course by prosecuted' Mr Brown means arrested, hauled through the courts at vast expense to the taxpayer and given a community sentence or ordered to carry out some form of rehabilitation.

Years later, when the yob appears again, this time facing a murder charge, they will be jailed, but sadly this will be too little too late for the family of the murdered teenager who chose to buy a burger at the wrong time.

So as David Davis goes head-to-head with David Icke, Miss Great Britain, Mad Cow Girl and Lord Biro and our politics hits an all time low - with possibly the worst publicity stunt of all time - it is left to the family of one of the latest victims to attempt to get something done about the current knife-crime climate.

Meanwhile others have suggested that the current outcry has been whipped up by the media. They say that the statistics from the British Crime Survey shows that knife crime, rather than rising, has remained stable over the past decade. So if knife crime remains at the same level does that mean it should never be addressed?

So far this year 19 teenagers have been killed, and in between me writing this and the Review going to press, that figure could easily rise.

Try telling the parents of those 19 children that everything is under control. Next time your teenager heads for a night out in London, will you not breathe a sigh of relief when you hear the front door key turn?

Those who marched for murdered Ben Kinsella in London last week showed incredible courage to carry out their actions so soon after such a heart-wrenching trauma. But they understand that something must be done and fast.

Sadly knives' cannot be banned but I believe they can be altered. Why not make all large sharp-pointed knives illegal without a licence?

Steak knives points can surely be rounded like butter knives? As long as the edge is sharp it will cut, but it will not stab.

I would gladly hand in every sharp knife I own and exchange them for round-fronted knives or knives with 45 degree angle points which can still pierce fruit and veg.

How many others would, especially if suitable knives were on offer to replace them? Within a set period the Government could ban large sharp-pointed knives outright with licences handed out to those who can give a valid reason for keeping them.

Such kitchen knives need only be two inches long so, if they are used in an attack, the likelihood of a vital organ being pierced is minimalised.

With knives like these being made illegal it would make it more difficult for teenagers to buy the weapons they seek with high street shops no longer stocking them.

Removing them from the high street and from our kitchens is the first way to make our streets safer for our children and then anyone caught in possession of a long, sharp-pointed blade should face a mandatory prison term along the same lines as those caught in possession of a gun.

Some will no doubt claim the idea is nonsense, but I really cannot see why larger, sharp knives are needed, especially when you have a smaller, sharper knife at hand should you need to pierce a particular fruit.

With statistics showing that a large percentage of weapons used in such crimes are normal kitchen knives taken by teenagers, the need to act quickly and decisively becomes all the more apparent.

Knife amnesties are all well and good but what is the point if a would-be killer can go home and pull out a five-inch kitchen blade?

Why not remove the temptation completely? Yes, members of gangs would still be able to get their hands on machetes and whatever else, in the same way that they can get hold of a shotgun. There is nothing we can do about that other than to hope that police officers eventually catch up with them.

But a number of teenagers currently carrying knives on our streets now, whether it be for protection or to look cool, have simply gone downstairs and taken it from the kitchen drawer. They are the ones the Government must focus on while detectives continue to chase organised criminals.

So how long must we wait before those put in a position to act on our behalf realise that there is a much bigger issue than publicity-seeking by-elections, expenses, car tax or lost discs?

This issue really is a life or death matter and those in charge of running our country owe it to Henri Bolombi, 17; Faridon Alizada, 18; Louis Boduka, 18; Fuad Buraleh, 19; Sunday Essiet, 15; Tung Le, 17; Ofiyke Nmezu, 16; Michael Jones, 18; Nicholas Clarke, 19; Devoe Roach, 17; Amro Elbadawi, 14; Lyle Tulloch, 15; Jimmy Mizen, 16; Robert Knox, 18; Sharmaake Hassan, 17; Arsema Dawit, 15; David Idowu,14; Shakilus Townsend, 16 and Ben Kinsella, 16, to act now.

Martin Buhagiar

Editor