West Midlands Police chief: Knives now 'fashion accessory' for youths after series of violent attacks in Black Country

Chief Constable David Thompson said that the recent spate of knife crime incidents across the region could no longer be seen as a 'gang type phenomenon' and was linked to a more widespread use of blades.

He said he had serious concerns that more youngsters were carrying knives as 'fashion accessories' and were getting used to carrying weapons at an early age.

He warned there was 'no simple strategy' to curb knife crime, and said that some measures such as knife bins in targeted areas were failing to impact on the problem.

Educating young people at an early age to the dangers of knife crime holds the key to changing behaviour, Mr Thompson said.

The Black Country was hit by eight knife crime incidents in October, including one murder and five involving serious injuries.

Last weekend a 16-year-old boy was stabbed at a bus station in Wolverhampton and two men were critically injured after a double stabbing in Brownhills.

A wild five-day period earlier in the month saw five knife attacks. An 18-year-old was knifed in a street in Walsall, a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death in Brierley Hill, and there was also a stabbing on a bus in West Bromwich.

Meanwhile two men were knifed in separate incidents in Lower Gornal and Sedgley. The carnage has continued this week after a 19-year-old was knifed in a West Bromwich flat.

The previous month 23-year-old Mircea Gheorghe Cozmiuc was stabbed to death in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton.

"The main response is about bringing the perpetrators to justice.

"But this is a very serious and complex issue and we are actually having to rethink our response.

"We used to talk about this as a gang phenomenon. I don't think it is. There is much more general widespread use than the position from say six or seven years ago."

The most recent Home Office figures show that knife crime rose by 25 per cent in the year to July 2015, way above the 9 per cent national increase.

Mr Thompson said that males aged between 15 and 24 were the main target group for knife crime in the West Midlands, but added that some measures to prevent it were 'no longer effective'.

This included stop and search in targeted knife crime hotspots, he said, as well as knife bins in specific areas.

He said the force was carrying out work with Aston University on a project to find out why young people carry knives.

"Some of the early responses suggest that knives are being carried as part of status symbols and fashion accessories," Mr Thompson said. "There are also quite a lot of young people who grow up in environments where there is a familiarity with weapons.

"Education at the ages between 15 and 24 may be too late."

Speaking to the Express & Star after the meeting, he added: "Part of the reason we are doing the research is to ask the question: Why do people carry them?

"It's really dangerous. If people get in conflict they can use the knife, or have it taken off them and used on them.

"We want to discourage this attitude and of course, you will be committing a criminal offence if you carry a knife."

Mr Thompson said that although WMP had seen some success at charging the perpetrators of knife crime, the recent surge in violent incidents was a cause for concern.

"We are pretty good at chasing down people who cause this type of offence," he said.

"The punishments are really serious. But we realise this is a complex issue for which there is no simple strategy to solve. It is an area of concern for the force."

West Midlands PCC David Jamieson had asked Mr Thompson to outline the steps the force was taking to tackle knife crime following what he described as 'considerable concern' in the wake of the recent incidents.

Mr Jamieson has set up a commission to look at gangs and violence to tackle the root causes of knife crime.