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Stabbings are horrific, says PM Reid steps up knife crime fight
(about 2 hours later)
Prime Minister Tony Blair has branded a series of fatal stabbings "horrific", but pledged tougher sentences to help tackle violent crime. Home Secretary John Reid has announced measures to improve the recording of knife crime following a series of fatal stabbings.
The new Violent Crime Reduction Act would allow courts to pass "much tougher sentences", he said. Mr Reid told the Commons that, from next month, data on serious offences involving knives and sharp instruments would be recorded separately.
Earlier, a former Home Office adviser warned that the government was not doing enough to tackle knife crime. This would provide "a more detailed understanding" of the problem, he said.
Over the past week, three people have been stabbed to death in Manchester and two in London. Five fatal stabbings over the past week have led to calls for knife crimes to be recorded and for tougher penalties.
But the prime minister said the most serious violent crime rates were falling. Mr Reid also pledged to improve facilities to allow the public to pass on information about knife crime to the authorities.
"I do think we need specific measures directed at gangs, guns and knives," he said. "We need to take action before, as well after, the awful headlines we have seen," he told Parliament during a debate on the subject.
"However, I think at a deeper level... we need specific measures that are targeted on the hardest-to-reach families and that's something we will be returning to in the weeks ahead." "I don't think I have pretended today to be offering a solution because I don't think it is within the power of government alone to offer such a solution.
Criminologist Marian Fitzgerald, who advised the home office on crime and race between 1998 and 1999, told BBC News the government had not taken the issue of knives as seriously as guns. "I think it has to involve personal and parental responsibility as well as the local community. "
"With firearms, the police are required to record if an offence involved the use of a firearm," said Dr Fitzgerald, who now works at the University of Kent. Data call
Earlier, criminologist Marian Fitzgerald, a former Home Office adviser on crime and race, told BBC News the government had not taken the issue of knives as seriously as guns.
"With firearms, the police are required to record if an offence involved the use of a firearm," said Ms Fitzgerald, who now works at the University of Kent.
"They're not similarly required to record whether it involved the use of a knife.""They're not similarly required to record whether it involved the use of a knife."
Official figures show there has not been a rise in knife-related murders, but she said the lack of data on other knife crime left researchers "in the dark".Official figures show there has not been a rise in knife-related murders, but she said the lack of data on other knife crime left researchers "in the dark".
"Unless you've got that trend data you don't know whether the problem is going up or down - and certainly you don't know whether anything you do to tackle it is making any difference," she added."Unless you've got that trend data you don't know whether the problem is going up or down - and certainly you don't know whether anything you do to tackle it is making any difference," she added.
"If an offence has been perpetrated which involves the use of a knife, we should record that," she added. Adam Regis, 15, was stabbed to death in London at the weekend, only days after 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga was killed.
Police statistics deal with reported crime only, and Home Office rules do not require details of knives to be singled out. Kevin Platt, 30, was fatally stabbed to death in Manchester on Friday, and two other men, aged 21 and 24, were killed in separate incidents in the city.
The British Crime Survey, which is based on the public's experience of crime, is the government's favoured source of statistics. Prime Minister Tony Blair branded the series of fatal stabbings "horrific", but pledged tougher sentences to help tackle violent crime.
The survey can have more details of knife-related incidents as it logs unreported crime. The new Violent Crime Reduction Act would allow courts to pass "much tougher sentences", he said.
But the prime minister said the most serious violent crime rates were falling.
"I do think we need specific measures directed at gangs, guns and knives," he said.
Sentence callSentence call
Opposition politicians have also stressed the importance of tackling the issue.Opposition politicians have also stressed the importance of tackling the issue.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell called for a mandatory five-year sentence for carrying a knife.
KNIFE CRIME Of 820 homicides in 2004/05, 236 (29%) were killed with sharp instrumentThis was the most common method of killingKnives were used in 6% of all violent crimes 2004/05 Source: British Crime SurveyKNIFE CRIME Of 820 homicides in 2004/05, 236 (29%) were killed with sharp instrumentThis was the most common method of killingKnives were used in 6% of all violent crimes 2004/05 Source: British Crime Survey
"The sentence for carrying a knife in a public place should be made the same as that for carrying a gun," he said. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell called for a mandatory five-year sentence for carrying a knife.
And shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier stressed the need to "inculcate into [youngsters] the culture that carrying a knife can be fatal".And shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier stressed the need to "inculcate into [youngsters] the culture that carrying a knife can be fatal".
Under current laws, it is an offence to carry a knife in public without good reason or lawful authority - with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade less than 3in (7.5cm) in length.Under current laws, it is an offence to carry a knife in public without good reason or lawful authority - with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade less than 3in (7.5cm) in length.
The maximum sentence for carrying an offensive weapon was raised from two to four years' imprisonment last year.The maximum sentence for carrying an offensive weapon was raised from two to four years' imprisonment last year.
And police launched a knife amnesty last summer, during which more than 100,000 weapons were handed in.And police launched a knife amnesty last summer, during which more than 100,000 weapons were handed in.