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| Knife crime |
THUGS caught with knives are set to face tough community service sentences.
Writing exclusively for the News of the World below, Justice Secretary Jack Straw ignores our calls for two-year jail terms for those caught illegally carrying knives.
But he says they will be forced to spend three days a week working in the community wearing bright orange bibs marking them out as criminals.
He suggests the public choose the kind of work the louts will do and adds that a curfew will also be imposed to keep them off the streets at night.
Mr Straw has already announced that those caught with knives will do up to 300 hours’ of community service, such as street cleaning.
But he now wants them to do a minimum of 18 hours every week. Mr Straw said: “This will take up at least three days of their time, including a possible curfew that keeps them off the streets in the evening.”
His action comes after the number of teenagers killed in stabbings in London alone this year hit 28—double the figure it was five years ago.
But Mr Straw still opposes our campaign to lock up every knife carrier.
We called for a minimum sentence of two years in prison for anyone caught with a knife in public without lawful reason.
We also called for an end to automatic early release for anyone convicted of a crime in which violence was an aggravating factor, a victims’ tsar to be appointed at Cabinet level to champion the interests of victims of violent crime and a 10-year government plan to build more jails.
Colin Knox—the father of tragic Harry Potter star Robbie, 18, who was knifed to death in Sidcup, south-east London in May, also believes Mr Straw is not being tough enough.
Colin, 55, said: “If you were a teenager thinking about carrying a knife what would make you think twice—a two-year prison sentence or 300 hours of community service in a high-visibility jacket?
“A minimum jail term is the only thing that will work.”
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