UK Sword ban starts to impact

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New law on knives won't halt culture, says MP

Monday, March 17, 2008

Government plans to double jail sentences for being in possession of a knife may still not be enough to deter people from carrying the lethal weapons, it was warned today.

And with concern over the level of knife-related violence on the streets of Ulster remaining high, SDLP MP Eddie McGrady accused the Government of not moving quickly enough to introduce tough new laws to tackle the issue.

Policing and Justice Minister Paul Goggins has said he will shortly lay proposals before Parliament that will see the increase in penalties for the carrying, manufacturing and selling of knives in Northern Ireland to a maximum of four years in jail and an increase in the age at which knives can be purchased from 16 to 18.

However, Mr McGrady said it has been almost three years since the Government announced its commitment to devise a comprehensive strategy to deal with this issue and claimed that this is leaving Northern Ireland lagging behind the rest of the UK in relation to sentences for knife carrying offenders.

"Knife crimes are an alarming trend within our society. The latest reported figures for 2005-06 would indicate that approximately 1,200 knife related crimes were reported to police compared with 984 incidents the previous year," said Mr McGrady.

He added: "The culture of carrying knifes has become acceptable to many of our young people. Some see a knife as a status symbol or something that can protect them. However, the number of knife attacks and serious and fatal wounding tell us that knives are not a tool of protection but a deadly weapon."

Mr McGrady also warned that the proposed four year penalty is not enough of a deterrent.

He said: "While I welcome the progress being made by the Northern Ireland Office in this area, it is debatable if four years imprisonment is enough deterrent to those who would carry a knife with malicious intent, and how in fact will this law be policed and offenders detected.

"The community have a role to play in the detection of this crime and it is my hope that the decision by the NIO to introduce a four years prison term will encourage the community to co-operate with the police in the knowledge that this is a serious offence with serious consequences."

As part of the new proposals the Government is also drawing up a new offensive weapons list that will include Samurai swords. In addition, the authorities are examining how to develop a knife licensing scheme to regulate the sale of knives.

The new legislative proposals to tackle knife crime will increase jail sentences to 12 months for lesser convictions that can be dealt with by a magistrate. However, the sentence will rise to four years on indictment for having a knife or other weapon in public or on school premises.

Possession of an offensive weapon, including flick and gravity knives, push daggers, sword sticks, death stars, butterfly knives and banned martial arts implements are also covered by the proposals.

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