50% drop in charges for knife crime

The number of people charged with knife crimes has fallen by half in London - despite a rise in teenage murders.

Police figures show that over the 12 months to April this year 1,361 people were taken to court for possessing a blade.

Of the 22 teenagers killed so far this year, 17 were knife victims.

In the year to April 2004, when a total of 2,810 people were charged, 12 teenagers were killed in the capital.

A police source said: "The figures are certainly dramatic. They appear to show that when fewer people are charged with knife crime, murders go through the roof."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the numbers were deceptive and that in the past three months officers had conducted 48,869 stop and searches, seized 1,445 knives and arrested more than 2,000 people. "It is a top priority for the Met with enforcement activity taking place across the capital every day under Operation Blunt 2, which was launched in May," he said.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker was today announcing plans for a new scheme aimed at tackling the roots of the knife problem.

A drivedesigned to prevent the illegal sale of knives to anyone under 18 will see test purchasing checks involving 16- and 17-yearolds sent into shops across the country to try to buy blades. It is also expected to clamp down on the sale of knives from mail-order catalogues and internet auction sites. Recent research by MarkMonitor found that almost 9,021 knives - from flick blades to machetes - were available for sale at online auction sites over a three-day period last month. More than half were available to purchase instantly with no warnings or restrictions.

On the websites of six of Britain's top department stores and retailers, four were selling knives with no age limits and one specialist seller was running five auctions offering illegal "semi automatic" daggers with blades that flicked out at the touch of a button.

Gordon Brown said knife crime was "the biggest problem at the moment" in some cities. The Prime Minister told the Edinburgh Book Festival that the community had a role to play in changing the culture.

His comments followthose of Met Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, who has called for judges and magistrates to do more to reflect public fears. "I am not satisfied the courts are taking sufficient account of community concerns about knife crime," he said.

He added that those caught with a blade or involved in knife violence should expect to be jailed and pledged to do everything he could to stem the tide of knife murders and attacks among young people.