Stephen Lawrence's father calls for London campaign to stop 'disaster' of knife killings

 
Neville Lawrence: Demanded automatic jail terms for those caught carrying a blade

The father of Stephen Lawrence today called for a new London campaign against knife crime in a bid to end the “disaster” of young deaths from stab wounds.

Neville Lawrence, whose son was stabbed to death in 1993, said that tough automatic sentences and improved education about the dangers of knives were needed to reduce the death toll on the capital’s streets. “My son was killed by a knife and every year I see the fact that the message hasn’t got through to the younger generation about how devastating it is for a family to lose a loved one,” he said.

In an interview with the Evening Standard Mr Lawrence, left, also spoke of his anguish on reading in this newspaper about the fatal stabbing of teenager Jamil Palmer in Feltham. Jamil, 18, died on May 6 after being knifed as he walked through a nature reserve with a friend — making him the second London teenager to be stabbed to death in less than 48 hours following the killing of Alim Uddin, 17, in Brixton.

Mr Lawrence said the continuing loss of young lives had convinced him that current efforts to combat knife crime were inadequate and should be overhauled.

He called for more police on the beat, better liaison between officers and local communities, and the greater provision of youth centres and employment opportunities to prevent young Londoners being drawn into gangs.

He said he had also decided to speak out now to support his murdered son’s friend Duwayne Brooks, who is bidding to become mayor of Lewisham in this Thursday’s local elections, because of the new ideas that he was offering about how to tackle the problem.

Mr Lawrence described his dismay that young Londoners were still dying from knife wounds 21 years after Stephen was fatally stabbed by a gang of racist white youths in Eltham.

“I’m looking at the Evening Standard now where this boy was stabbed and the woman was saying that she was cradling the boy while he was lying down,” he said. “I could hear the pain in her voice. It’s too frequent that people just carry a knife.

“If one person gets stabbed per year, it’s a disaster. From my point of view, the struggle to regain your life and get to grips with what’s happened and losing your loved one is devastating. Some of these kids that have been killed are really talented people who would have done a lot to help their community and that’s a tragedy in itself.

“When I sometimes talk to youngsters and ask them why they carry a knife, they say ‘it’s protection and I won’t use it’. Now if you carry a knife for protection and something happens, you are going to use it. So if there’s any way that a youngster can feel more protected in the community to stop them carrying a knife that would be welcome.”

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has called for people convicted of carrying a knife for a second time to be given a mandatory six-month prison sentence.The proposal, which has won the backing of Met Commissioner Sir Bernard-Hogan Howe, has been blocked by the Liberal Democrats amid a Coalition row over the idea.

Stephen Lawrence: stabbed to death in 1993

But Mr Lawrence said that he believed tougher automatic sentences could play a role in preventing knife crime.

He added: “Anything that would deter people from carrying a knife would be very welcome. If it means that you are caught with a knife and you are getting a heavy penalty, a set fee, maybe something like that would deter people.”

Mr Lawrence, 72, said a lack of parental guidance and job opportunities coupled with the closure of youth centres was also fuelling the problem and leading some youngsters into gangs.

Mr Lawrence said one answer was to take young people “off the streets” by expanding youth centre provision.

“A lot of these youngsters are very gifted. Get them doing something and they will excel,” he said. “You see these guys on the streets, just standing there doing nothing every day, you need to get them off the streets into some kind of situation where they are not idle.” Mr Lawrence said the absence of constructive alternatives was adding to London’s gang problem and expressed concern that high unemployment, rising house prices and other pressures were making some youths “desperate” and frustrated.

He said another issue was a lack of police on the beat. “There are too few officers walking in the community, getting to know the people on the streets, making friends with them,” he said. “You can’t make friends in the office, you make friends walking the streets ...  all that has gone, officers who get to know the community and help to resolve conflict.”

Mr Lawrence said that Mr Brooks, who was with Stephen when he died, had his support because he was “looking at things in a different way” and was promising early intervention in schools and families to prevent children falling into crime, along with a drive to create 2,000 job and training opportunities.

“When I see or hear of a young boy being stabbed the first thing that comes into my head was ‘how did I cope, how is this family coping, how can I help if they ask me to help, what do I tell them?’

“It makes me really, really sad that after 21 years I’m still hearing of a young boy being stabbed. If one young man is stabbed in the street in all the year, it’s still one too many.”

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