‘It can’t go on’: Sajid Javid calls for end to knife violence after murders – By Lucia Binding (Sky News) / March 4 2019
The home secretary will meet police chiefs this week to discuss what can be done to stop young people from being murdered.
Image: Jodie Chesney and Yousef Ghaleb Makki were stabbed to death at the weekend
The home secretary has called for an end to the “senseless violence” following the fatal stabbings of two teenagers at the weekend.
It comes as an investigation revealed the number of young people linked to murders and manslaughter using knives has risen by more than 75% over three years.
On Sunday, Sajid Javid said the Home Office was taking action to tackle crime, including meeting police chiefs, to discuss what more can be done to end the violence.
Mr Javid said: “Young people are being murdered across the country and it can’t go on.
“We’re taking action on many fronts and I’ll be meeting police chiefs this week to hear what more can be done.
“It is vital that we unite to stop this senseless violence.”
Image: Sajid Javid has said the Home Office will do more to tackle knife crime
His comments came in the wake of a number of teenagers being stabbed to death across the country, including 17-year-old Jodie Chesney in London and Yousef Ghaleb Makki, also 17, in Manchester.
Mr Javid will chair the second chief constables’ round table on Wednesday, which is aimed at sharing experience and policing strategies for tackling violent crime.
Ms Chesney was the 18th homicide in the capital in 2019 – a total that now stands at 20.
Police said she had been playing music with five of her friends in an east London park before she was stabbed in the back.
Image: Jodie Chesney, 17, was stabbed to death in an east London park
Her family branded her murder as a “totally random and unprovoked attack.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted he was “devastated” over Ms Chesney’s death.
A day later, Mr Makki was stabbed to death in the quiet village of Hale Barns, near Altrincham.
Police are investigating and two boys who were arrested on suspicion of murder remain in custody.
Image: Yousef Ghaleb Makki was attacked in Gorse Bank Road in Hale Barns, Manchester
Their deaths follow three teenagers dying in knife attacks in two weeks in Birmingham, prompting West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson to call the issue a “national emergency”.
Meanwhile, a recent investigation led by Channel 4 Dispatches found the number of police recorded offenders under 18 committing homicides using a knife or sharp instrument rose by 77% from 26 to 46 from 2016 to 2018.
It also found that during this period the number of police recorded offenders aged under 18 committing rape and sexual assault with a knife rose from 24 to 33, while robbery with a knife increased from 656 to 999.
There was also a 93% rise in the number of children aged 16 and under being treated for stab wounds in England.
It was said that 76 people were reportedly stabbed to death in the capital out of 306 across the UK as a whole last year, including 23 children.
In October, the Home Office said it set out a range of actions to tackle violent crime, including a £200m youth endowment fund.
It said an extra £970m in police funding is proposed in the funding settlement for 2019-20, adding that the offensive weapons bill will introduce new offences to tackle knife crime and acid attacks.
