Express & Star comment: Theresa May must take tough action now over knife crime
It has sadly become an all too common occurrence.
As the authorities hail the success of the latest knife bin or community initiative to reduce violence, another young person is stabbed to death.
The West Midlands is experiencing an unprecedented epidemic of violence.
Lives are being taken on our streets, leaving the families and friends of the victims to pick up the pieces.
And there seems to be no end to the misery.
The latest tragedy saw a 15-year-old boy knifed to death on a Wolverhampton street.
Information about the incident, which is thought to have involved a group of youths, is limited at these early stages.
We can only send our condolences to Keelan Wilson’s family at this terrible time.
His death means there have now been eight people killed in incidents involving knives since the turn of the year.
The public rightly want to know what measures the authorities are taking to stop this cycle of deadly violence.
But whatever they are trying – it isn’t working.
We sympathise with the police, to a degree, but believe much more could be done to be honest about this issue and tackle it more firmly.
We are told the Government’s Serious Violence Strategy, released in April, is geared towards clamping down on violent crime.
It featured new funding – of course – for various initiatives to educate people on the dangers of carrying knives.
There was a focus on ‘early intervention’ and on changing people’s behaviour to prevent them from being drawn into gang violence.
This is all well and good, but there was one thing missing that stood out like a Belisha beacon.
Where was the stringent response from our legal system?
More coverage of the Keelan Wilson murder investigation:
Yes, there needs to be systems in place to get people off drugs. It is undoubtedly important to have weapons amnesties.
But what is the point of educating people on the dangers of carrying knives and other weapons when there is little deterrent offered by the criminal justice system?
The lack of attention given to this issue is either a huge oversight or a monumental failing on the part of the current Conservative administration.
This is a party that previously prided itself on being tough on crime. The reality in 2018 could not be further from the truth.
Time and time again we see criminals walking away from court penalised with nothing stronger than a suspended sentence.
Anyone convicted of carrying a knife or of being involved in violence should be handed a significant prison sentence. Instead they are frequently treated with kid gloves.
Surely even Theresa May’s often shambolic Government can see that this approach is not working? Lives are being lost and yet we continually see ministerial inaction.
The Express & Star is campaigning for mandatory prison sentences for people caught with knives.
At the moment there is a ‘two strikes’ rule in place, meaning that adults convicted more than once of being in possession of a blade face a minimum six month prison sentence.
It is questionable whether this legislation has been carried out to the letter by all courts. And anyway, many would argue that it goes nowhere near far enough.
Until the powers-that-be understand the need for an effective deterrent to violent crime, its perpetrators will continue to have the upper hand.
People are tired of hearing mealy-mouthed lawmakers giving out excuses.
They want action.
Just how many more deaths must there be before this Government decides to get tough on crime?
