Crime amongst young people is escalating because they are unaware of the consequences - GP Taylor

When I reported that two youths were speeding on off-road motorbikes without helmets and riding on one wheel, the local coppers said there was nothing they could do. They weren’t allowed to chase them in case the kids fell off and injured themselves. Oh dear, what a shame if they did. Lack of police action decreases the quality of life for the majority. The offenders stick two fingers up to our moribund law enforcers.

I read in horror that if a young person is caught with a knife in a public place, they can write a letter of apology and get off the offence. It is as simple as that, scribble a quick note and hey-presto you are off the hook.

Yes, it really is true. A letter of apology is all you need at a time when knife crime is an escalating problem. One commentator on a TV news programme said that one way of solving youth offending was to open more youth clubs to give them something to do instead of breaking the law.

When I heard this, I thought for a moment that I had slipped into another dystopian reality. The suggestion that young people would be stopped from offending by a good old youth club is nonsense. In the NACRO report, “Knives not Lives,” it makes it clear that they believe stop and search and short prison sentences don’t work.

I totally disagree. Crime amongst young people is escalating because they are unaware of the consequences of their actions, ignorant of the law and are not frightened about the punishment, if any.

Having served across the county as a police officer, I would doubt that a softly, softly approach to youth crime will work. Instead of more youth clubs, I would suggest building more youth detention centres. Increasing penalties for carrying weapons, committing robberies and acts of violence.

Anyone who carries a weapon is a potential murderer and should be treated as such. The carrot and no stick approach has not worked and now is the time to get tough.

That may sound harsh, but the only way to curb youth crime is to make the consequences of their actions so dire that only a fool would consider breaking the law.

I am not talking about the kind of prison that is more like a budget hotel with a TV in every room. It would be far better if there was no TV, WiFi, mobile phones, social media and unlimited association. Youth prisons should be tough and offer an experience that puts the person off offending for good. Sentences should be long and hard, not short and easy.

According to figures, youth reoffending is on the rise. I believe that this is because of our weak response to crime and a reluctance to incarcerate young people who break the law.

As a teenager, my mother made it very clear that if I did anything wrong, I would be straight into Throxenby Hall, the local boys home. That threat was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow. Now, there is no threat.

Police officers are frightened to stop and search in case they are accused of being racist or harassing young people. The courts are reluctant to impose custodial sentences and social services blame lack of a male role model, the breakdown of the family and anything else that is trendy that week.

No one seems to understand that youth culture, rap songs, video games and films glorify crime, drugs and criminals. Drugs and weapons are seen as part of youth culture and amongst some ethnic groups the carrying of a weapon is essential either for protection or attack. They are status symbols and part of the growing gang culture.

Despite making up only 13 per cent of London's total population, black Londoners account for 45 per cent of London's knife murder victims, 61 per cent of knife murder perpetrators and 53 per cent of knife crime perpetrators. That is an inconvenient truth that cannot be ignored.

Having worked with offenders, I doubt if they break the law because of their circumstances being impoverished. It is done through greed and wanting what others have. Crime is easy. Rob someone in the street, break into a house, sell some drugs. Money can be made and a day’s work can be over in an hour.

Now is the time for the government to act. Give police the power. Get officers on the street proactively harassing known offenders, getting the villains before the courts and swiftly off to prison.

GP Taylor is a writer and broadcaster who lives in Yorkshire.