ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Charles in knife plea as toll of London killings hits 131
PRINCE Charles yesterday called for action to combat spiralling knife crime in Britain, declaring: ‘Enough is enough.’
His appeal with Prince Harry at a summit on youth violence at Clarence House came as the number of killings in London this year reached the highest level in a decade.
The fatal stabbing of a second teenager in three days took the number of murders in the capital in 2018 to 131, the worst since 2009.
The latest victim was named yesterday as Jay Sewell, 18, who was stabbed in a street fight between armed youths in Lee, south- east London, on Tuesday.
Charles, who has long campaigned for better youth opportunities through his Prince’s Trust charity, called soaring crime ‘unacceptable’ and called for better ways to prevent so may ‘appalling disasters’ striking families.
He said he wants more emphasis on vocational education to prevent youngsters less suited to the ‘academic sausage machine’ from dropping out and losing their way.
Charles was joined in the roundtable discussion session by Prince Harry, who has vowed to put knife crime at the top of his agenda next year. Also there were experts, young- sters who have either escaped youth violence or lost friends to it, and stars including rapper Tinie Tempah and actor Tom Hardy, both Prince’s Trust ambassadors.
The princes are understood to have convened the meeting after speaking privately about the problem of youth violence.
Other participants included the parents of murder victims. Prince Charles told them: ‘There must be better ways if we’re going to prevent happening all these to appalling so many disasters families. This is unacceptable, frankly. We should say enough is enough. This time, we are really going to make a dent in this for the sake of so many young and so many families.’
Charles set up his Prince’s Trust 42 years ago because there were not enough services for young people. ‘A lot weren’t suited to the academic sausage machine,’ he said. not what recognised ‘The is education needed tragedy the for to is those need help that people.’ for we provide vocational have At least three present of the had young survived representatives being stabbed or shot themselves, with others losing friends to knife crime. Several of those taking part in the meeting were former offenders, who had reformed. The London Assembly’s police and treated crime violent like committee fighting crime should terrorism. says tackling be Members urged the capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, to take ‘drastic action’ to stem the bloodshed. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Any murder is one too many, and violence in London has claimed too many lives this year. We are committed to reducing violent crime.’