Javid: We must treat violence as a virus

VIOLENT crime is a ‘virulent disease’ which requires a major shift in Government mindsets to be stamped out, the Home Secretary will say today.

Sajid Javid will call for a twopronged approach, involving limiting the opportunities for crime and reforming the lives of would-be criminals to ensure ‘nobody gets left behind’.

He will urge firms to use technology similar to vehicle immobilisers on cars to make their products harder to steal.

At a speech in east London, Mr Javid will encourage teachers, health workers and police officers to report would-be offenders. The aim is for these individuals to then be referred to ‘violence reduction units’ for support.

It comes two weeks after his major youth violence summit with Theresa May, at which he called for a ‘ public health’ approach to tackling knife crime. This suggested public officials including teachers and NHS staff had a legal duty to report the suspicious behaviour of would-be offenders.

But the announcement caused outcry among teaching unions and nursing leaders who said they were being ‘scapegoated’.

Mr Javid – who is tipped as a Tory leadership contender – will describe the recent surge in violent crime as an ‘outbreak of some virulent disease’.

Addressing 100 guests including charity leaders and senior police, he will say the ‘mindset of Government needs to shift’, adding: ‘Changing the lives of young people will not be an easy task. No future should be pre-determined by where you’re born or how you’re brought up. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind.’

A prison officer had his throat slashed by an inmate yesterday. The officer, who needed 17 stitches, was attacked at HMP Nottingham, a category B prison.