Three stabbings a day in the capital as knife crime soars by 17% in a year
THE shocking scale of knife crime in London was revealed today as new figures showed that an average of three people were killed or seriously injured in stabbings on the streets of the capital each day in 2016.
The Met statistics showed that 60 people were stabbed to death last year, while 1,159 sustained serious injuries. In total, officers dealt with 21, 365 knife c rimes, including domestic assaults and gang attacks.
The statistics, obtained by the Standard under Freedom of Information rules, show the total number of knife crimes rose by 17 per cent last year, compared with 2015 when there were 59 deaths, 1,089 serious injuries and 18,202 less serious offences.
Last year, 4,316 people were threatened or injured with a knife or other sharp instrument, compared with 3,846 in 2015 — a 12 per cent rise.
Senior Scotland Yard detectives say they have managed to reduce gangrelated knife crime, but are concerned that more young people are carrying knives for protection. Police are now rolling out tactics previously used by specialist squads — such as checks on retailers and weapons sweeps — to on-the-beat officers. Southwark was the worst affected borough, with 1,258 knife-related offences, followed by Newham with 1,165 and Lambeth with 1,156. They were followed by Tower Hamlets (1,087) and Croydon (1,026).
Lambeth had the worst injuries record, with one death and 246 people injured. This was followed by Newham, which recorded three murders and 243 people injured. Croydon had the highest knife-related murder rate, with six deaths.
This year, five people have been stabbed to death in London, including teenagers Djodjo Nsaka, 19, a university student from Streatham, and 15-year-old Quamari Barnes, from Harlesden.
Patrick Green, manager of the Ben Kinsella Trust, set up after the murder of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella in Islington in 2008, said: “If these crime figures tell us anything it is that we can’t sit back and watch this problem continue to grow, tackling knife crime has to be the policing priority for London.”
Barry Mizen, 65, whose son Jimmy, 16, was murdered in Lee in 2008, said: “The collateral damage and the impact on people’s lives following these incidents can be huge.”
Sophie Linden, the deputy mayor for policing and crime, said she was working with retailers to explore what could be done to reduce the under-age sale of knives.
She said: “We’ve got to work with communities, schools and the young people themselves to spread the message that carrying a knife is more likely to ruin your life than save it.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Kevin Southworth said police were constantly reviewing tactics on tackling knife crime.
He added: “The most recent phase of Operation Sceptre in January involved nearly 900 activities across the capital and we have similar proactive activity planned throughout the year.