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A government edict to get tough on knife offenders is being ignored by police forces throughout the country, despite mounting public concern and a spate of killings.
Figures obtained by The Times show that in some areas as many as half of all adults caught carrying a blade receive a caution instead of being prosecuted.
The figures show huge disparities in prosecution rates across England. Police forces said that they would keep handing out cautions, regardless of the Government’s hard line.
Gordon Brown has ordered police forces to stop giving second chances to people who carry knives. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said in February that there would be a presumption that knife offenders aged over 18 would be prosecuted rather than receive a reprimand.
The latest figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that many police forces were not doing so.
In Bedfordshire, between March and June this year, 50 per cent of people aged 18 and over who were caught with a knife were given a caution when police took action, rather than being prosecuted.
In Essex and Norfolk, more than a third of adult offenders were cautioned rather than appearing before the courts. Cumbria police reprimanded more than 30 per cent of offenders, while more than a quarter escaped prosecution in Gloucestershire.
In Cheshire during the same period, 94 per cent of adult offenders were charged.
Amid a crackdown on knife crime and a huge operation to target offenders and seize weapons, London’s Metropolitan Police had a charge rate of 90 per cent.
The lenient treatment of many knife offenders is revealed just days after the British Crime Survey showed that more than 350 knife-crime offences were being committed every day. In London, 21 teenagers have been killed this year – the majority of whom were victims of stabbings.
The wave of violence continued over the weekend when a young father was fatally stabbed in North London. A 27-year-old Devon man, Elliot Guy, was found in Tufnell Park with a stab wound to his neck shortly after he left a party. He had been visiting London to help to decorate his mother’s house. Three people were arrested in connection with his death.
Another man, in his early 20s, was in a critical condition in hospital last night after he was found with stab wounds in Feltham, West London. Police also confirmed that a 16-year-old boy arrested in connection with the latest teenage killing had been released on bail. Frederick Moody, 18, died just yards from his home in Stockwell, South London, when he was attacked on Thursday night.
The Conservative Party expressed concern that offenders were being cautioned and said that the presumption to prosecute was a key measure to effectively tackle knife crime. David Cameron, the Tory leader, recently announced plans for a presumption of imprisonment for anyone convicted of knife crime.
The Ministry of Justice said yesterday that the Government took tackling knife crime very seriously. Ministers have recently reemphasised the presumption to prosecute, which was extended to 16-year-olds last month.
However, police forces said that they would continue to give out cautions where they believed it was warranted. They pointed out that in some areas knife crime was relatively low and that cautions were an effective means of dealing with the issue. In Cumbria, there were 29 incidents during the three-month period. A spokesman said that each case was treated on its merits. “If we feel a caution will act as a sufficient deterrent to that individual, then we will consider that as an option,” he said.
A Bedfordshire police spokeswoman said that giving someone a caution did not mean that they were being let off, as it was a recordable conviction. “Sometimes this proves the best way forward to ensure a person is reprimanded and given educational advice in order that they do not continue to offend.”
The latest figures do not include people found in possession of a knife who also committed other offences at the same time.
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Everyone caught carrying a knife should not be 'prosecuted', they should be sent to jail for 5 years. Simple.
Of course, the police would abuse this by waiting for chefs etc to bump up their detection rates.
Hibbo, Dundee,
I wonder if some in the police are listening to the Govt like the Govt listened to them & the Independent Arbitrator who decided on their payrise. Not striking but not delivering. Cameron is right; anyone carrying a knife should be prosecuted. I expect this will happen when there is a change in Govt
Donna Walker, Effingham, England
Rural areas are less strict on knives than metropolitan areas? Wow, what a surprise!
In other news, 4x4s in Bedfordshire are more used off-road than those in Chelsea - and there are less buses. Quick ! Fire the transport authorities!
Just go to Wikipedia and look up the 'incriminated' counties...
Dominic, Paris,
hi JS from swissland
what were on your 'real' men doing whilst hitler &co murdered there way around europe for 5/6 yrs???
sweet fanny adams ..and with hitlers permission of course.....
Do not attempt to judge uk by the mindless antics of a few please.
mike, gloucester, england
If it's not guns it's knives, if it's not knives it's rocks. People who are willing to kill you will kill you. Apparently there are a lot of folks with knives who are more than happy to use them. Same with guns here in the U.S. Look at the death rate for young Black teens, it's abominable. What now?
James, Milwaukee, USA
Perhaps the re-intoduction of the birch would be a more effective solution. Two advantages, low cost and a history of very few repeat offenders. It is also a superior deterent. I would suggest that many of the knife carrying bullies are also cowards. Feather pillows don't act as a deterrent.
Lewis
Buckley, Troy, USA
Dave,London. P.J. has a point, we should have the right to defend ourselves and in theory we do. Sadly the liberal scum loving idiots who run our Country and the politically correct bosses crippling the police dont allow us to. Remember Tony Martin - law used to equal justice. I lost faith then.
Simon, Chelmsford, England
The Government can't put them in prison can they? Not enough space and too expensive to build/staff new prisons. Besides it would be a phillosophical climbdown for Labour. A party which believes 'pond life' is worth spending the nation's resources on. Message to this Government - NO IT IS NOT.
Bob, Glasgow, Scotland
A real Swiss man is not a real Swiss man if he doesn't carry a knife. I have a machine gun at home from the army and always carry a knife on me. We still don't kill each other. It is a cultural thing and I think we need to think how the culture in England got so bad...
JS, Luzern, Switzerland
"...reprimanded and given educational advice..." what a load of nonsense! What is the nature of the so - called "educational advice"?
I can hear it now, "Don't you know, sonny, knives are sharp and can hurt people". Soft liberal garbage from people who have lost control of the streets.
Richard, Melbourne,
Now, can we compare these figures with the statistics for ACTUAL knife crime in each area? I note that London has a 90% charge rate but the highest rate of fatal stabbings. Duh?
The Police have a lousy job with even lousier pay and don't need a ministerial jobsworth to tell them how to do it.
Bill, Suzhou, China
It is not the police who decide whether a person arrested is given a caution.
All case disposal decisions are made by the Crown Prosecution Service. The arresting officer has to pass a file in respect of all persons arrested. The CPS decide whether that person is charged, cautioned or no action.
John Moore, Paphos, Cyprus
@ PJ Moran - That's logical. Let everyone carry knives and that way violence will be reduced. The most fallacious argument I have yet encountered. It seems to be serving your country well though: one of the highest murder rates in the world and the highest prison population in the world.
Dave, London,
The role of the British police is "to keep the peace".
The role of most other police forces around the world is "to enforce the law". Enough said!
Sergeant Dixon would be proud.
peterj, malvern, uk
You people aren't allowed to carry a knife to defend yourselves! Just the criminals get them. Apparently England has totally abandoned its history. Do you have to call a government agency to get permission to go to the toilet? A nation of serfs again. Self defense is a natural and inherent right.
P, J. Moran, Houston, USA
Perhaps the government should start firing heads of police depatments, and police themselves who won't follow the law, then you'll see a turnaround. Brown has the prosecute those who won't enforce the law. If he doesn't, then there is collusion between #10 and corrupt police.
Jenny, Grand Rapids, MI US
If a copper will not enforce the law as ordered, he/she is guilty of misfeasance and nonfeasance, and should be peremptorily discharged in order that they might find more suitable employment. Perhaps as a dog walker.
Bob Evans, Anaheim, California
Maybe Jacqui should have come through with the pay raises!!!
Peter Andrew , Montreal, Canada
A caution??? What do they SAY to the offenders?
I was prosecuted for breach of the peace at age 7 (Oh, yes) - in Glasgow - and again prosecuted at age 9 for playing football in the street. Both grevious crimes required appearances in Juvenile Court and a stern 'admonishment'.
Think again, cops.
John Carty, Medellin, Colombia