Knife crime shock tactics

[14 July 2008]

People convicted of knife crime will be ordered to hospitals to see the terrible wounds caused by knives. The new government strategy, which has received criticism, comes as the Home Office will announce this week that an average of 70 knife crimes have been committed every day over the last year.

Under the government's new 'tough line' approach, police will be ordered to search more young people for stabbings in the eight parts of the country identified as knife crime hotspots. Children found wandering alone at night will be picked up by police, more teenagers will be stopped and searched and more 'knife arch' detection units will be set up in town centres. The government has been accused of repackaging old ideas with the plans. The Home Office to be released this week will reveal that 25,000 knife crimes have been committed over the last year, 14,000 of which occurred in the eight 'hotspot' areas.

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