PRESS STATEMENT – PRESS STATEMENT – PRESS STATEMENT

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SDLP MLA BURNS: NEW KNIFE LAWS WILL NOT HALT CRIME CULTURE
 

SDLP South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns has said government plans to double jail sentences for being in possession of a knife may still not be enough to deter people from carrying the lethal weapons.  

Mr Burns added the Government was not moving quickly enough to introduce new laws to tackle the problem.

He said: "Knife crimes are an alarming trend within our society. The latest reported figures for 2005-06 would indicate that approximately 1,200 knife related crimes were reported to police compared with 984 incidents the previous year.

"The culture of carrying knifes has become acceptable to many of our young people. Some see a knife as a status symbol or something that can protect them. However, the number of knife attacks and serious and fatal wounding tell us that knives are not a tool of protection but a deadly weapon.

"While I welcome the progress being made by the Northern Ireland Office in this area, it is debatable if four years imprisonment is enough deterrent to those who would carry a knife with malicious intent, and how in fact will this law be policed and offenders detected.

"The community has a role to play in the detection of this crime and it is my hope that the decision by the NIO to introduce a four year prison term will encourage the community to co-operate with the police in the knowledge that this is a serious offence with serious consequences."

ENDS