Knife-carriers must face jail

As the coalition insists it is tough on crime, worrying new figures have revealed four out of five knife carriers are not being jailed immediately, with many receiving community punishments instead.

This is extremely difficult to understand – clearly every case is different and there will be instances where a lenient sentence is justified, but surely not for the vast majority?

The public, who were told in 2009 by Chris Grayling, the then Shadow Home Secretary, that those found carrying a knife should “end up in the courts and then behind bars”, will be rightly disappointed.

The culture of carrying knives has led to frightening statistics – the most recent figures revealed there were nearly 30,000 knife crimes last year, with more than 14,000 knifepoint robberies. Knives were also used in 237 rapes and 200 killings.

Clearly there is no suggestion that criminals who use a knife in a violent crime are being given community sentences – but the figures must be viewed in the context that the police regularly issue warnings that those carrying a weapon, even for self-defence, are far more likely to be involved in a serious violent incident. If the courts continue to show leniency to those possessing knives, it stands to reason that more people could take the risk of carrying one.

Governments and the courts have a delicate balancing act to achieve between the size of the prison population and the need for justice. The dramatic rise in prison numbers is causing considerable problems – overcrowded prisons are much harder to control.

But, as sadly often appears to be the case, the views and feelings of the victims get drowned out in favour of the politicians, the courts and the perpetrators.

If the jails are filling up, that is the Government’s problem to resolve, but by ducking the issue and punishing thousands of knife-carriers with community orders, injustice is added to the pain suffered by victims.

The issue was summed up with powerful simplicity by Julie Ridgeway, whose 22-year-old son was stabbed to death outside an Oxford nightclub last year. She said: “Nothing good will come out of it if you carry a knife.”

Now the courts must send the same message to those irresponsible enough to ignore her warning.