The murder of 21-year-old Rob Knox in Sidcup on Saturday morning generated, understandably, significant press coverage, much of it along the lines of “something must be done”. 

And indeed something must be done, but it is not enough simply to call for harsher sentences and to bemoan the general behavioural direction of young people in society today, as many commentators have done.  A more balanced approach is required, firstly to deal with the immediate threat to the general public posed by young people armed with guns and knives; but also to deal with the longer-term problem of the emergence of a group of people, mostly in their teens and early twenties, who see no alternative but to carrying such weapons of violence.

It is worth noting that the general trend of knife crime in the UK is in fact downwards, but the recent spate of seemingly unmotivated and particularly shocking attacks in London (the murder of Jimmy Mizen in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon in Eltham being another example) has caused much angst.  Fourteen teenagers have been killed in London so far this year, eleven of them stabbed to death.

Whilst it will never be possible to completely eliminate all forms of knife crime from our streets, a lot more can be done to tackle the immediate problem at hand.  The greatly increased use of “knife arches” in public places announced by the new Conservative Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is a welcome start, and should be rolled out nationally.  Greater “stop and search” powers for the police should be introduced, along with a presumption that anyone caught in possession of a knife is intent on using it.  This should be factored into the application of increased sentences.  The Government has increased the maximum sentence for knife possession from two to four years, but it is clearly time to introduce a minimum sentence of at least twelve months.

These measures should send out a very clear message that carrying a knife is not acceptable and will be severely punished.  As Rob Knox’s grieving father, Colin, said at the weekend “With knives, there are no winners, only losers.  If you are a person who carries a knife, think about the consequences before you carry the knife”.

At the same time, parents, teachers, the police and community workers have a significant challenge to bring about a cultural change which means that young people do not carry knives as a matter of routine.  Politicians can help to create a climate in which society provides support to “communities” (insofar as that term is construed in many parts of the media) who are faced with the task of tackling knife crime, but the onus must lie with those closest to the heart of the issue. 

In his post below, Harry Snook identifies how family breakdown and the loss of authority experienced by teachers have not helped.  Nevertheless, it is very heartening to see community and charity workers in deprived inner-city estates (such as the CPS’ own Shaun Bailey) taking a very public lead in tackling this problem head-on at a local level.  It is only by direct engagement with such disaffected youngsters that we can hope to prevent them going off the rails in the first place.