UK wakes up to 'knife culture'

2008-06-05 14:04

London - Violent killings of teenagers by their peers have spiked dramatically in London since the start of the year, claiming 16 lives and prompting urgent action to prevent the spread of "knife culture".

These teen murders - most of which were stabbings, though a few were shootings - are already more than half the total for the last 12 months.

Most of the victims were male, with the youngest a boy of only 14. The latest victim was a 15-year-old girl, found dead on Monday in a pool of blood at a block of flats near Waterloo railway station, south London.

"Where's it all going to end?" asked Kevin May, the uncle of 18-year-old Rob Knox, an aspiring actor who had a minor part in the new Harry Potter film who was killed in south London last month.

"When is this violence and the carrying of knives by young people going to stop? Something's got to be done," he said.

Community worker Shaun Bailey, who runs a charity for disadvantaged young people in west London, said knife crime has long been a problem, but said it was clearly inching into new, and younger hands, and more areas of both the capital and the country.

Wider than gun-toting lunatics

"It's spreading out. The big change is that it's going down in age," he told AFP by telephone. "It's happening in London, Glasgow... with poor kids, rich kids, young, old. It's wider than gun-toting lunatics in a specific area.

Bailey is convinced that "if we don't address it... it will get worse. There's a point when kids and adolescents think (carrying a knife) is the only way to protect themselves."

But with the spate of new deaths - and the grief of each victim's devastated family and friends increasingly played out on television and in newspapers - the government and the authorities in London have been forced to respond.

London's new mayor Boris Johnson came to office on May 1 on a pledge to tackle violent crime. A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in south London two days later.

Since then he has appointed a commissioner for young people and announced plans to search people for deadly weapons using portable "knife arches" - airport-style metal detectors - at busy transport hubs.

Lenient sentencing

Last week a novel, £3m government advertising campaign was launched, using graphic images of real injuries inflicted by knives, carried for either safety or bravado.

The radio, internet and mobile phone campaign was developed by teenagers for teenagers, and will run alongside another series of ads encouraging parents to talk about the danger of knives with their children.

Under 18s cannot buy knives; anyone carrying an offensive weapon in a public place can be arrested, with under 17s risking a maximum 24-month detention and training order; adults risk a £5 000 fine or up to four years in jail.

But both Bailey and Costello charged that lenient sentencing by the courts for those caught with or using knives has sent out the wrong message.

- AFP