Yard purge on violent crime results in 24 fewer homicides

MORE than 3,810 suspected violent criminals were arrested and 930 weapons seized in a series of Met operations last year to prevent killings and stabbings, Scotland Yard announced today.

The force said the purge — helped by the curbs on movement imposed because of the pandemic — had also led to the arrest of 521 involved in the “county lines” supply of drugs in London and other parts of the country and the dismantling of 281 of their networks.

New “violence suppression units” launched by the Met last May contributed by carrying out thousands of arrests and the seizure of hundreds of weapons. Scotland Yard said the overall result was a 26 per cent fall in violent crime in London last year, including 24 fewer homicides with the latest annual death toll of 126 down significantly on the 150 killings in 2019. There was also an accompanying drop in the number of young Londoners aged under 25 being injured in attacks.

Other offenders were given gang injunctions and criminal behaviour orders or referred to diversion schemes in further efforts to suppress violence.

But as detectives continued to investigate London’s latest teenage killing — a stabbing in Islington last night — the force warned that the fight against violence will have to continue at an intense level to reduce further bloodshed this year.

Commander Jane Connors, who is the Met’s lead for tackling violence, said: “I am proud of the achievements of our officers and staff. Even when faced with the risk of catching the virus themselves, our officers continued to be out there on the streets.” Scotland Yard conceded that there was “a clear link” between the fall in violent crime last year and the reduction in people’s movement.