"Punish Those Caught Selling Knives to Children"
July 31, 2008 12:00 AM
Northenden Councillor Martin Eakins Has Called for Custodial Sentences for Shopkeepers Caught Selling Knives to Children
Liberal Democrats in Wythenshawe and Sale East are calling for tougher action against those caught selling knives to children and young people. Northenden Councillor Martin Eakins, who is Lib-Dem Parliamentary Spokesman for Wythenshawe and Sale East, made the call after damning figures exposing Labour's failure to tackle the issue were uncovered in Parliament by Chris Huhne MP, the party's Shadow Home Secretary.
The figures reveal that:
- Only 71 people have been successfully prosecuted for selling knives to children in the last five years.
- None of those convicted was sent to prison and only one was given a community sentence.
- 56 people were fined, but 21 of them were given fines of less than £200.
Cllr Eakins has criticised Labour's failure to tackle the problem effectively:
"This is a completely inadequate deterrent to unscrupulous shop keepers who flout the law to sell these weapons to children and young people."
"These tiny fines and a lack of custodial punishment send the wrong signal to those who profit from the illegal sale of knives."
The figures are particularly worrying as they came to light only days after the release of other figures showing Manchester has the 3rd highest level of knife crime in the country with 2,294 serious crimes in Greater Manchester involving a knife. Knife crime accounts for 20% of all serious crime taking place here.
The figures do not record children and young people separately but they do show that knife crime is a serious problem. A recent Manchester Evening News (MEN) undercover investigation revealed how easy it is for children to buy knives in Manchester, as 6 out of 10 stores approached by a 15 year old girl sold a blade to her.
Cllr Eakins said:
"Luckily the Woolworths store in my own constituency was one of the 4 stores that had the good sense to refuse to sell her a knife."
Cllr Eakins concluded:
"Too many young people are being drawn into a culture of carrying and using knives. Liberal Democrats believe that courts must take a much stronger stand against those who are fuelling knife crime by illegally selling knives to children and young people.
"Cutting the supply of knives will be one of the most effective ways to reduce knife crime in the first place."
Ends
Note to editors
The maximum punishment for selling a knife to someone who is underage is six months in prison and/or a £5,000 fine. Since 1st October 2007 underage in this context has been under 18 years of age. However the figures obtained by Chris Huhne are for the period 2002-6 (the latest period for which figures are available), when it was under 16 years of age.
The MEN investigation can be found here: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1058826_knives_on_sale_to_children
Knife crime figures can be found in the following report here: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb0708.pdf
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