| Knife
Crime
Recent fatal stabbings involving school children have put the issue of carrying knives firmly back in the headlines.
For years, legislation
to tackle the growing problem of knife crime has challenged many politicians
and governments.
The Criminal Justice Act in 1988 made carrying a blade or point in
a public place without good reason a criminal offence with maximum
penalty of two years in prison. Folding pocket knives with blades
of less than 3 inches were made exempt from the legislation.
The CJ Act also
created an offence of having a knife or bladed weapon at school with
a maximum sentence of four years.
In 1996 the CJ
Act was updated with The Offensive Weapons Act of 1996 and this outlawed
the sale of knives and other bladed items to under-16s with penalties
of up to 6 months in jail for those ignoring the legislation.
To tackle knife crime in Schools, the Government has recently brought out the Education and Inspections Bill. This new legislation empowers schools with the ability to nominate (trained) staff members to carry out hands-on searches without a student's prior consent.
Other legislation
includes the Knives Act 1997, which creates offences relating to the
marketing of knives in a manner to encourage violent behaviour, or
as combat weapons.
Police also have
the power to stop and search suspects (Criminal Justice and Public
Order Act)
A spokeswoman
for the Home Office said the government would not tolerate "the
carrying of bladed weapons and are doing everything we can through
legislation, enforcement and community work to prevent it".
"We have
banned the manufacture, sale and importation of 17 bladed, pointed
and other offensive weapons, in addition to flick knives and gravity
knives," she said.
She also highlighted
the current knife amnesty launched on 24 May 2006 as "one of
many tactics the government and police are using to tackle knife crime".
A Home Office
spokesman said: "The recent knife amnesty took almost 90,000
knives out of circulation in England and Wales.
"We will
increase the maximum sentence for carrying a knife in public without
good reason from two to four years, to give a clear message that knife
carrying is a serious matter which can attract a long custodial sentence."
The Metropolitan
Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair says a mandatory prison sentence
for carrying a concealed blade is required to tackle a worsening culture
of knife crime while shadow home secretary David Davis says the government
needs to back up "tough talk on tackling knife crime".
"We believe
there must be tougher sentences for people carrying knives,"
he argued. |
