Knife criminals 'must expect jail'

Brooke Kinsella speaks to journalists in London
12 April 2012

Anyone caught in possession of a knife should expect to be sent to jail, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.

Mrs May said the Government is "absolutely clear" that anybody convicted of possessing a knife should expect to be sent to prison after ex-EastEnders star Brooke Kinsella, whose 16-year-old brother Ben was stabbed to death three years ago, said prisons need to be tougher.

The 27-year-old actress, appointed as a Government adviser on the issue last year, also called for primary school children to be given anti-knife crime workshops in schools.

Many headteachers are reluctant to run such lessons out of a fear their school will be labelled as having a problem with knife crime, damaging its reputation, Ms Kinsella said.

Speaking after the launch of Ms Kinsella's report in central London, the Home Secretary said anyone found in possession of a knife should expect to spend time behind bars.

She said: "On sentencing we're absolutely clear that the sentence for somebody who is convicted of murder using a knife should be 25 years and we're absolutely clear that somebody found in possession, caught in possession and convicted of possession of a knife, should expect a custodial sentence."

Launching the sentencing green paper in December, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke told MPs knife crime was "wholly unacceptable", saying: "Any adult who commits a crime using a knife can expect to be sent to prison and serious offenders can expect a long sentence."

But in her report Ms Kinsella said some young offenders still see prison and young offenders institutions as holiday camps.

"Many young offenders said they actually become accustomed to life in a young offenders institution, with some describing it as 'a holiday camp'," she said. "Just as the new Government is making it more beneficial to work than to be on benefits, so too must we turn prisons and institutions back into places of punishment, where people want to get out and ensure they don't go back."

Ms Kinsella said her "biggest concern" was schools and called for primary school children to be given anti-knife crime awareness lessons.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in