Knife crime statistics evidence of Labour’s empty words - Huhne

"The scourge of knife crime on our streets is best tackled by catching more knife carriers," said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary. Commenting on today’s knife crime statistics, which show only one in five people convicted of knife possession go to prison while one in four get away with a caution, Chris Huhne said:

“This is yet more evidence of the huge discrepancy between what ministers say and what actually happens.

“Posturing on penalties by Labour and the Tories has offered nothing but empty words. It would be better to have firm but fair penalties at a reasonable level, rather than bravado on sentencing that the courts never apply.

“The scourge of knife crime on our streets is best tackled by catching more knife carriers. That means more police on the streets in knife crime hot spots, identified using hospital data.

“Cardiff has shown how doing this can reduce wounding by 40%. It is staggering that these obvious lessons have not been learnt across the country.”

The drug and crime culture portrayed in 'The Wire' is in British cities too

In a keynote speech on crime and broken communities today, Chris Grayling has highlighted the “decade of neglect” under Labour – a decade in which “violence in our society has become a norm and not an exception”.

“Since Labour came to power, the level of violent crime in Britain has risen dramatically, by 70 per cent. Gun crime is up by more than half and there are more than 100 serious knife crimes each day. Under Labour, fatal stabbings reached the highest level on record.”

These figures, he said, showed that the drug and crime culture of the award winning US series ‘The Wire’ is increasingly becoming a feature of British cities as well:

“The culture of violence that was a feature of US cities a generation ago is now a feature of British cities. The Wire used to be just a work of fiction for British viewers. But under this Government, in many parts of British cities, The Wire has become a part of real life in this country too”.

NEW PLEDGE TO SUPPORT YOUNG VICTIMS OF CRIME IN LEWISHAM

A pioneering Government programme which supports young victims of crime in Lewisham, as well as helping them to keep themselves safe, will be rolled-out nationwide, Justice Minister Bridget Prentice announced today.

Around 13,000 young people at risk of becoming a victim of crime including anti-social behaviour, knife or gang related crime have already been reached through the work of five innovative pilots. These pilots also enable young victims to deal with the impact of a crime and move on with their lives. From today the Government is pledging a further half a million pounds to helping new projects learn from their success.

Working hand in hand with local communities, police, schools and voluntary groups, these pilots have identified the needs of their local young people and put in place a range of services, advice and tailor-made support.

Whilst visiting one of the successful pilots in Lewisham, Bridget Prentice said:

“Young people are more likely to experience crime than adults, and are also the least likely to report what has happened. This can often result in them not knowing where to go to access help.

“That is why programmes like this are so important. These pilots have already had great success, in less than one year, and demonstrate just what can be achieved when local communities, supported by Government and the police, pull together to tackle the issues they face.

“Lewisham, the project I am visiting today, is a model example of how we can help keep our young people safe, help those who have been a victim of crime re-build their lives and support them so they don’t turn to crime in response to being a victim.

“Now I want to encourage more communities across England and Wales to establish their own projects – using the success of these five pilots as an important guide.”

Part of the Youth Crime Action Plan, this programme encourages the police, local authority and voluntary sector to make a public pledge setting out what support will be provided to the young people within their communities by offering services ranging from workshops, drop-in sessions, school assemblies, music, sport and youth clubs to outdoor activity breaks and one-to-one support.

Chief Inspector Graham Price, Chair of the Lewisham Youth Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) Board said:

“Young people are less likely to come forward and report crimes and therefore less able to access the existing wide network of support that is available. We’re determined to support young people if they do become victims of crime and our pledge to the young people of Lewisham sets out what they can expect.”

The Government’s Youth Task Force will now use the funding announced today to help other areas across England and Wales replicate the success of the five pilots.

Lewisham built on its existing provision for young victims of crime and established a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) for young victims of the most serious crimes.

Lewisham is one of the Youth Crime Action Plan priority areas who have received funding to develop a comprehensive package of measures to prevent and tackle youth crime through the triple-track approach of tough enforcement, non-negotiable support and prevention.

Grayling warns knife crime remains too high in Britain

Chris Grayling accused Labour of being “complacent about our law and order problems” after the annual crime statistics revealed that 104 serious offences with a knife are committed each day.

The Home Office figures show that in 2008/09 there were over 38,000 selected serious offences involving a knife, including murder, attempted murder and robbery.

The Government has changed the measure though - despite previous criticism of its use of knife crime statistics - making it more difficult to get a true picture of knife crime in Britain.

Chris, the Shadow Home Secretary, said, “It looks like the Government is trying to cover up the scale of the problem we face with knife crime - little wonder given its policies have failed to get to grips with the challenge.”

He stressed, “Massaging the figures on knife crime twice in two years is just an insult to the families of those who have been tragically murdered in knife attacks and who are campaigning for real action to get knives off our streets.”

Only one in five knife offenders jailed

Dominic Grieve has condemned Labour’s “hollow” pledge to crack down on knife crime after it was revealed that only one in five knife offenders are sent to jail.

New statistics show that the proportion of knife criminals being jailed actually decreased in the last quarter from 22% to 20% - and the number receiving a community sentence or suspended sentence increased from 42% to 45%.

The figures also reveal that 8,000 knife offenders have been let off with a caution in the last year alone.

Dominic, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said, “With only one in five knife offenders being sent to prison - and the number falling - the Government’s pledge to crack down on knife crime rings hollow.”

And he warned, “Labour’s lax approach is putting the public at greater risk.”