By Daily Telegraph reporter
9:40AM BST 22 Jul 2009
Colin Knox and his ex-wife Sally want to see a mandatory minimum six-month jail sentence for people caught carrying knives and met with the Prime Minister and Home Secretary Alan Johnson on Monday to propose the plans.
Knife murders have increased in 10 hotspots which were targeted by a £7million crackdown, figures have revealed. The news is embarrassing for the Home Office, which last year launched its plan to crack down on knife crime after a number of high profile knife murders.
The Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) generated a 17 per cent reduction in knife-related violence against under-20s but the number of under-20s killed by a knife or sharp object did not change, and the number of over-20s killed by a knife or sharp object increased.
“There are a lot of good things going on out there, but they’re using TCP on a large open wound and they need to stitch it up," Mr Knox said.
“A mandatory custodial sentence would take the carrier off the street. If you take the perpetrator who carries a knife, and will be tomorrow’s murderer, take him into an institution where you change his way of thinking and hopefully when he comes out his mindset has changed.
“Get them off the streets first, get the streets safer and deal with these
people. Talk to them and see what they think about, change their way of
thinking.”
Piers Morgan vs. Jesse Venture, Ted Nugent, Alex Jones with real life cases of people defending themselves. Click on Image