Sajid Javid introduced a knife crime preventions, the asbo-style orders could limit use of social media in order to stop gang crimes escalating.
Knife Crime Prevention Orders would implement sanctions, including bans on using social media to ‘start trouble’. The orders will target anyone aged 12 or over who are suspected of being involved in a knife crime even if they have not be caught with the knife.
Knife possession increased by almost a third in the last five years. It is already a crime to carry a blade in public without good reason and a separate offence if you take one into a school.
Sajid Javid, said: “I have been clear that I will do everything in my power to tackle the senseless violence that is traumatising communities and claiming too many young lives.
“The police already have a range of measures they are using to keep our streets safe, but there is more we can do to help them in this battle. I have listened to their calls and will be introducing these new orders to stop gang members carrying knives in the first place.
“It is vital we continue to focus on improving the law enforcement response while at the same time steering young people away from criminal activity in the first place.”
The measures will be tailored to an individual’s case depending on what they have done but social media access may be limited for them or they may be ordered to not contact a specific person. Police will apply for the orders in the courts and if approved they will last for a maximum of two years, with reviews after 12 months for adults or more frequently for under 18s.
Sarah Jones MP, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on knife crime, said: “Knife crime is an epidemic which the government has failed to grip. Ministers have listened to our calls to intervene with young people at an earlier stage – but this proposal is flawed.
“Imprisoning a young person – as young as 12 years old – for two years for breaching this order is completely disproportionate. It risks criminalising a generation of young people who have grown up unsupported and who often turn to carrying weapons out of fear.
“The APPG has been pushing for some time for the government to prevent proven knife offenders from using social media to incite violence, but this should not apply to young people if they haven’t committed a crime.”
If a court is convinced the police’s intelligence is probably right, it can impose sanctions including:
- Banning them for up to two years from meeting other members of their gang
- Curfews to keep the suspect off the streets and out of specific areas where gangs clash
- Requirements to attend special knife awareness courses to change their thinking
- Barring the suspect from using social media to encourage feuds
A fifth of offences for possession or threatening with a knife from the start of 2018 until June involved people aged 10 to 17. Hospital figures showed that 813 people under 18 were treated for a sharp injury wound in the year to April 2018 – up 80% since March 2015.
