Why won't knife crime stats go down? Who STILL wants to stab people?

LIKE many of us presumably, I find it difficult to understand knife crime figures are rising when overall crime is down. Who is out there in Britain still deciding to carry a knife... despite years of anti-knife campaigning work across our nation? Why do they choose to carry arms, carry weapons... WHY?

Some 250 people are now stabbed every week in Britain, according to official figures just released. Numbers of police on our streets have been reduced by 1 in 7 in recent years so a knife crime rise could be connected to that.

Or maybe it's a propaganda-type trick. Authorities report the numbers are up so there's an argument for there to be a 'legitmate' clampdown and targeting by police 'hit squads' on knife carriers.

Crime across the country has dropped except for knife crime, apparently. Is there a balance being struck between the cost of policing, winning hearts and minds with community work and communications, bringing down crime levels - and not having them go up again?

BBC News: July 2015: Latest crime stats released for 2014/15

It is one of those remarkable coincidences, as noted by my previous analysis work over the years reported in this blog, that another general election is over and something odd is notable again in the crime figures. I wonder what figures issued by public authorities can be trusted.

But putting that bigger issue to one side (and that's difficult to do, quite frankly), the moral argument to go after knife carriers on UK streets is unimpeachable.

With knife-related crime stats showing a stubborn trend to not go down from, say, 25,000-ish, tough action to combat this evil, cowardly activity in our green and pleasant land - and pot-holed, dirty and badly-kept urban streets - must be pursued.

Better to remove knives from the carriers than suffer the human cost of dead and injured victims, surely? Ditto guns, other weapons, terrorism etc.

Tragically, many of us will have seen the news this week evidencing the clearest example of the knife crime problem... cyclist Don Lock - a fit, active and much-loved 79-year-old grandfather - was killed by a 'mindless' knife carrier in a reported road rage incident near Worthing in West Sussex. Apparently, the killer was a man aged 34 (police are shown arresting the male suspect below, from the Daily Mirror). How to get knives out of the hands of such men and women? How??

See full story on Mirror website

"Je Suis Charlie" - People against guns and knives...

IN THE AFTERMATH of the #ParisAttacks and #jesuischarlie solidarity march in the French capital, I thought it important to add a post to this peace-loving blog in a gesture of support. As a qualified and experienced journalist, 'the pen(cil) is mightier than the sword' has been a frequent motto to live by for me.

One of the most haunting of the murders this week was that of a wounded policeman - married with a family - struck prone on the pavement near the Charlie Hebdo office.

In a statement of helplessness, as Ahmed Merabet (42) lay on the ground powerless, the gunmen asked: "Do you want to kill us?". Replying "No, no chief", his killers showed no mercy, ignored his plea for life and in an act of cold blooded murder blasted him to death at point blank range. No words can convey the scale of such evil action. (Learn more about Ahmed here.)

This week the UK experienced the worst kind of violence and injustice on our doorstep not witnessed for many years; such despicable crime and inhumanity was a stone's throw away from my neighbourhood on the south of England. It could be us next; British security chiefs stated that was the case.

It feels like there is little we can do to stop this tide of idiocy from some strange kind of vipers nests, nursed in middle eastern traditions and cultures. People may see these acts as proof a God does not exist else why could such terrible events happen? Yet it is not about the existence of God but some men's choice to ignore human conscience and act as barbarians.

KU KLUX KLAN don’t represent Christians; fundamentalist extremist murderous militants don’t represent Islam

For decent westerners and others, we must be sensible and, for our own safety, consider not offending mad men with weapons; careful, considered actions and education are more likely to prevent slaughter than ridiculing and lampooning fundamentalist extremist militants without, it seems, a moral framework.

Most of all, I recommend we become most vigilant to potential dangers around us that might be signs of an imminent attack by such terrorists, Al Qaeda, or whoever they say they are. As decent people, we can use faith for strength, hope and work for change in these mad men - and focusing on these enemies, praying their hearts can be changed. If they don't change, there is no alternative for them but to be removed from societies by all means we can muster for the self defence of decent people.

Youth street crime due to exclusion from society

WHATEVER someone's politics, I tend to take a closer look where they pick up on the themes represented by this anti-knife crime blog.

Here, Unite's General Secretary Len McCluskey picked out my thoughts that the country's riots in 2011 were caused by young people's exclusion from society and employment, similar to this blog's findings that many young people have little to aspire to, thus sometimes taking to the streets - and, tragically, to knife or other violent crime.

Here's an excerpt of his talk if you don't have time to watch the whole thing:

The 21st Century is not ringing out the death knell of the labour movement; it is sending out a call to arms. The apparently endless economic crisis which began in 2008 is seeing to that.
In 1992 Margaret Thatcher claimed, after the election of another Conservative Government, ‘It is a great night. It is the end of Socialism.’
A few years later Tony Blair declared ‘that the Class war is over’. No doubt from the boardroom of JP Morgan or wherever he is now, it may look that way.
John Prescott claimed “We’re all middle class now!”
But don’t worry, of course, the entire evolutionary human history of socialism and class was not eradicated by New Labour.
Would anyone – two and a half years into this Bullingdon Club Coalition – have the pomposity to claim that class has ceased to be an issue in politics today?
Of course this is not political reality; it is a tactic; it is political posturing.
It is used as false evidence that we have nothing left to fight for. It is part of the rhetoric fed to us that says we should not challenge the decisions taken by our elites.
We are taught to believe that democracy is the cornerstone of a modern civilised society; but our Lords and Masters want to define democracy, limiting us to an ‘X’ on a Ballot Paper every 5 years.
This is not my definition of democracy.
They tell us strike action, civil disobedience, direct action and protest are all somehow unpatriotic.
Our history tells us they are not.
That is because our rulers are deeply afraid of Ralph Miliband’s assertion that politics is about conflict.
They believe that, for example, those without hope, without jobs, now looking at cuts in their meagre welfare, that families being shunted out of London because of housing benefit changes should simply out up with it.
Wait for the next general election – that’s if they are registered to vote.
Well I note that some council leaders from our major cities have warned that people might respond with anger and civil disorder.
I would not be surprised. The one thing worse than suffering is suffering alone and in silence.
We have seen remarkable local protests in recent years: from 20,000 defending a hospital in Eastbourne; 15,000 on the streets in Lewisham to 350 people protesting against a library closure.
Look at the 2011 riots in England they exposed the growing ‘disconnect’ in a broken society.
But it was not without reason.
Young people spoke of their frustration at not being able to find employment.
They were excluded from society in the first instance, so what was there to lose?
Those events showed that at a certain level of inequality, the whole concept of “society” starts to be drained of meaning.
The labour movement, protest and working-class politics will continue far beyond the 21st century.
Be assured, protest against inequality is alive and well – look at the work done by UKuncut to challenge outrageous tax avoidance by Vodafone and other giant corporations.
Their message is – if you want to trade in Britain and benefit from our infrastructure and skilled workforce, then pay your taxes.
Last year protests focused on Starbucks.
Initially, of course, protestors faced hostility, vilification and attacks by the media.
But the truth is these tactics work.
When the right-wing media realised that these protestors were on to something, their attention then focused on Starbucks and what followed has been a remarkable public boycott of the company.
It takes courage to risk unpopularity and vilification. But the truth does prevail.
The labour movement’s message must be one of ‘hope’.
It must talk more about its victories and the positive future that it aspires to.
Britain is broken. But it is the system that is broken, not the people.
Trade unions and the labour movement must continue to give hope for a better way of doing things.
They must work to ‘educate – agitate – organise’.
I am proud to associate Unite with these initiatives, and to hope to form a longer-lasting alliance between organised labour and radical protest, even if it comes from outside our traditional movement.
And, as I have made clear before in relation to the trade union laws, while I do not ever advocate violence, nor do I preach worship of the law at all costs.
So my message to capitalism – if you can send a message to a system – is this: Mend your ways or risk mounting social breakdown and disorder.

Eliminate a cause of knife crime - do it now via this page today

Given that the world of finance and many of its practitioners are being criticised without end at present, it is notable that the Christian community has squared up to these types.

Companies who use tax avoidance measures to cut their tax bills - and thus not pay legitimate taxes to governments caring for their country people - are the subject of a campaign by Christian Aid.

By tax dodging, society is adversely affected, made poorer - and if you read parts of this blog - you'll see how the lack of morality of such companies can be a causal reason for knife, gun and other violent crime.

To send the British Prime Minister your view that financial secrecy such as tax dodging is wrong, visit the Christian Aid website here: add your voice now to the anti-tax dodging campaign.

Just enter your email address on this site and you will be joining with thousands to help eliminate one of the causes of knife crime. Nothing to lose... with life and maybe much else to gain...

Death by sharp deadly weapons: a kind of Easter message...

STRIP away religious blurb and what do you see here? Three men being killed... executed... capital punishment by a violent ruling force.

The one in the middle was in a gang of about a dozen young men. He was more of a peacemaker than a fighter, more innocent than guilty - but the political leaders in his country went after him in a vicious, concerted way.

Look closely...

One of his gang struck out with a blade when they came to arrest his friend, slicing off the officer's ear. Apparently, the peacemaker healed the officer's ear and ordered his fellow gang member not to fight.

And then they whipped, scourged this man... nailed him to that gibbett you see there, a cross, a crucifix - driving huge nails into his hands and feet, severing tendons and soft tissues, perhaps breaking bones.

To make sure he was dead after several hours hanging there, an officer took a spear, another type of blade, and brutally used it to stab him, plunging the bladed weapon deep into his side. And he was dead - killed and drained of blood by all manner of sharp weapons.

And vicious, organised gangsters, criminals and other idiots are still using knives and other blades to kill others today. Sometimes you wonder what progress has there been - and when (or rather how) will they learn that being violent makes you a loser - nothing gets better picking up a knife to use against another human being.

Knife and violent crime rise in 2011 highlights blame 'game'

IT CAN'T be a coincidence knife and other violent crime is now rising as economies and poor past financial management in international trading cities such as the City (London) and across the UK + world continue to wreak havoc all around.


And, for the safety of the general public, today's news that a new law will be introduced to lock up knife-carriers seems most appropriate - see article in The Guardian - Knife crime teenagers to be jailed.


(For reference, this post is based on publication of some knife crime statistics showing more people are now facing blade attacks, apparently, an increase from 13,994 to 14,980 - and violent crime is up 10% to 1.15 million - although I can't see when these figures are compared to or a verifiable source for them on the web except this newspaper story in The Sun.)


Observing politicians and the rest of us as economic contagion spreads and some related societal breakdown and misery become evident, it is clear the issue is most serious.


Who (and what) is to blame for the contagion misery continuing to work its way out of the economic system? Opinions are most serious - they influence political and societal thinking - and who has done poor jobs, helped to make it happen?


Those with security jobs are charged with protecting us - but more people are likely to be injured or die at present - so they and their masters (or mistresses) want to point out "it's not our fault, it's the economy", so 'don't sack me from my job'.


Those looking after economic matters - from City business adviser types and senior bankers right down to the one-man businesses, and even those running household budgets - are thinking "it's not my fault, it's all sorts of other things" so 'don't sack me from my job'.


At a most simple level, people need to stop running scared, stop arguing and stop being in self-preservation mode. Calm down, support each other, eke out peaceful effective solutions... for the greater good. If only that would happen.


If not, more people will die or get injured from knife crime or other violence - and then all those arguing are likely to be at fault for wasting time shouting and not mapping out solutions. I get the feeling no-one knows what the important things are to do... (Tory MPs Theresa May and Kenneth Clarke take note). Maybe I'm wrong - what do you think?

Murder rates across the world, country by country

A pioneering international crime study has been published revealing data about murders in countries across the world - and alarmingly, economic downturns have been shown to increase murder rates, with figures tending to lag behind the economy as it recovers (or worsens...  so more murders in the UK and USA maybe on their way!)


Crime statistics are usually difficult to compare across borders - but murders tend to always be reported so the figures in the study can be considered accurate.


Compiled by UNODC (the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), the report reveals there were c.468,000 homicidal deaths on planet Earth last year.


More than a third of murders (36%) were in Africa and just under a third were on the American contintents (31%); in these global regions, the murder rate was 15-16 killings per 100k people, more than double the average of 6.9 killings per 100k for the rest of the world.

Illustrative map of murder rates on planet Earth

Murders in most countries have reduced in number since 1995, but in the Caribbean and Central America, murder numbers have increased.


Interestingly, the UK is a developed nation and can be considered relatively safer than others, enjoying one of the lowest murder rates for individual countries. I can't help speculating how our anti-gun culture helps here, especially when one considers US murder rates are tending to be double the UK's.


Two trends seem to be apparent:


1. A link exists between development and crime. Countries with low scores on the UN Development Programme’s human-development index reveal high murder rates and vice versa.


2. Exceptions to the above show another trend. Organised crime, drug trafficking, violent gang culture and the prevalence of firearms are also correlated with higher murder rates, even in relatively developed countries.


This distressing phenomenon just noted above is proven in Honduras and El Salvador. It would be wise probably not to travel to this pair of countries; they suffer the highest and second-highest global murder rates (82 killings per 100k and 66 killings per 100k resp.).


To download more detail on this report, visit the 'Homicides Study' on the website of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

When will this killing and stabbing madness stop?

ANOTHER death. How to stop this killing and stabbing madness?

Latest knife crime incident:

A 21-year-old man was being questioned by police detectives after a knifeman killed two women and left a third injured at a house.

Police called to a cul-de-sac at Ireton Court in Thame, Oxfordshire, at 2.21am on Sunday found the pair with fatal injuries.

A third woman was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford but her condition is not thought to be life-threatening, said Thames Valley Police.

According to reports, the two dead women were a mother and daughter aged in their 50s and 20s who were declared dead at the scene.

Killing of my brother, by Tom Cave - aged 9

Toying with the idea of using violence today? Using a knife or a gun? Think on young Tom's message...


"I was three when they stabbed him.

"Mam told me he had gone on a train to the sky.

"The 'kids' told me there was lots of blood everywhere...

"My mam tells me to 'share' my thoughts and i do. Now i am nine and i understand exactly what happened to my brother and i can deal with it because i shared my thoughts and questions with mam.

"I find it better to cope with now as even though i loved him i can hardly remember him so its easy for me to cope.

"I will never have another brother because they stole my future when they murdered my brother. Don't be like me - sad, lonely and angry and confused as to who i am because you would not like it at all.

"I am lucky i have life and love and my mam who's got lots of memories to keep my brother alive in my head - my heart is his.

"Please dont kill because you can live a good life because you too are loved by many."

         ... from: Tom Cave (aged 9).

Tom's mum, Theresa Cave, has become part of an impactful knife and gun crime programme called Point 7 which has been building steady support in the UK.

Theresa set up a proactive memorial group - the Chris Cave Foundation (on Facebook) - to remember her son, beaten and killed in a stabbing, as well as campaign against knife and other violent crime.

She describes the Point 7 programme, which she and Tom have been involved with, as "wonderfully impactful" and "very much in demand".

She said: "The presentation consists of films, true experiences, weaponry and their uses in the streets - and professionals such as the paramedics, youth offending teams and police come together to present what I would say is the most impactive, hard-hitting, lasting memory of the consequences that are to be had choosing a life of violent crime.

"Point 7 show the most serious and brutal of wounds to actual victims and even animals. Knife and guns are on show and debates take place between the young people present.

"True life stories and heart wrenching results are always to be had with this presentation given freely by this wonderfully expert team of professional people dedicated to the cause and to the youths of today."

Read Press coverage about the Point 7 anti-knife crime / anti-violence programme (the Sunday Sun)

The presentation is available to adult organisations and agencies accross the country and training is on offer to anyone wanting it. Toolkits are available (soon) and the workshops are in six parts.

For anyone wishing to know more about this anti-knife crime, anti-gun, anti violence programme, please call 01642 498451 or 07981 991482 for more information.

Gun and knife carrying for protection from criminals

Debate on knife and gun carrying on this blog lately has been significant. I've received another comment on the recent posts. Because it touches on key issues that others have flagged, I thought I would reproduce it here as a main post for all to comment on. Personally, I continue to disagree with the arguments presented. Fundamentally, people carrying weapons (guns or knives) is the wrong path. But, please review this post and add your opinion (it was sent to me by a Tom Trumper, presumably a 'pen name'):

" Sir, While I believe that Lucy Cope has had a terrible loss - probably one that I will never be able to comprehend as I am not yet a father - I do not believe that this makes her immune to criticism. If anything, her involvement undermines your efforts to outlaw firearms as she is clearly driven by emotion, and showed this very strongly during the television show. And you'll forgive me if I question Lucy's stance on the story of the elderly woman being raped - that the preferable alternative for the elderly woman owning a firearm was for her to own a panic alarm. While I can see the argument here, I believe that it is alarming where an abuser of our most vulnerable citizens is potentially allowed to go scott free when the police cannot intervene in time. The point is here, an elderly woman is incapable of defending herself effectively most of the time, and a gun makes for a crude equalizer. When I say equalizer, I mean that physical strength or height plays little or no role in the functioning of a firearm compared to a knife, where a stronger, taller opponent can easily over power a rival. Because of this, citizens most at risk of attack (the weak, the old, the crippled etc) have a means of defending themselves - the same goes for items like 'pepper spray' and 'tazers'.

The firearm in question doesn't even need to the criminal to prevent the crime from happening, as a survey of imprisoned criminals in the U.S showed that 34% of criminals had either been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim."(1) This shows that firearms can be a crime PREVENTER as well as a potential crime cause.

I am a firm believer in that certain prevention is better than uncertain cure, which could be described as a criminal being having to think twice before he decides to attack that young/old lady, as opposed to the same lady being maimed/killed/raped and the criminal having to be punished - we will never know if the criminal incarcerated in jail will be rehabilitated, but we will always know that it's a positive thing if a person can walk down a street without fear of being attacked.

I hope my comments are taken constructively and helpful in debate.

(source for my statistic about prevention: http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp )"

Life as a knife / gun crime gangster or financier

A real life story of a financier who ended up as a criminal has caught my eye - Jordan Belfort. His life struck me as an accurate caricature of the current banking and economic greed that has dominated modern life in recent times.

Belfort also pursued riches and a luxury lifestyle that appeal to knife and gun gangsters (at least some of them).

With that in mind, interesting to cover his life story to serve as some kind of modern day parable for those thinking that crime and greed pays. It doesn't and you can see it clearly in Belfort's story. Sorry if it seems somewhat unfair on Jordan - I'm not sure how else to write it.

Belfort probably sums up a kind of insidious evil that can grip a selfish, self-centred human spirit - recklessness, greed, gambling, crime, power - a whole gamut of excess that is abhorrent to decent people.

When he started selling stocks, he once made 12.5m USD in a few minutes. He had mansions, luxury and sports cars. He flew in private jets and helicopters. Coco Chanel’s yacht was his. He married an attractive blonde model.

Sex, drugs and the love of money

Belfort had tens of brokers working for him, and then hundreds. He inspired his men who sold stock which often went up. Belfort encouraged his brokers to spend their own money wildly... to keep them champing at the bit for more. Prostitutes and drug dealers... you can just visualise it – cars, drugs, parties, short skirts (no skirts!), air-punching on the trading floor.

He had everything worth having, right?

Wrong. As money poured in from crime, Belfort started to lose perspective. He had 19 servants. He wore watches, shoes and clothes worth many thousands of pounds. But he started to break the law. He created a scam that made him multi millions. The FBI investigated him. He started on drugs – crack, cocaine, Ecstasy, cannabis, painkillers, sleeping tablets and anti-depressants. What's your poison...?

To quote Belfort: he was “stealing $100 million from thousands of investors and smuggling millions of dollars to Switzerland”.

He became paranoid. His life fell apart. His yacht sank. His jet crashed. He had a near-death experience in his helicopter.

It gets worse. Belfort started to crack up. He pushed his wife down the stairs at one of his mansions. Drugged out of his mind, he grabbed his three-year-old daughter, put her in his car and drove off. But he didn’t get far. He crashed through the garage door into a marble pillar. The girl was not wearing a seat-belt. She was unharmed. Jordan Belfort’s wife began divorce proceedings.

Investigated by law enforcement authorities

Belfort was told by the FBI he faced 30 years in jail. His option to escape jail was to grass on his 'pals' – in other words, talk to his co-conspirators about the frauds they had jointly committed, and secretly record the conversations.

He chose to be a grass. Yep - set up close chats with old 'friends' while wearing a wire to discuss crimes that were committed.

He served 22 months of a four year jail sentence. His whole life story is to become a Martin Scorsese film. Not sure if that doesn't glamourise crime - maybe not as it should show his life's spectacular failure and collapse.

He said: "I went off course. I had bankrupt values. Number one was money. Number two was power. Number three was sex, mostly with hookers. Number four was drugs.”

It is little wonder that young people and others who take up knife and gun crime - perhaps to escape poverty - have had little to aspire to when idiot, avaricious financiers (like Belfort) and businesses (that Belfort worked for) remain solely focused on their self-interest, their profits - and regulation and governments across the world are way too corrupt (perhaps also gullible) and let them get away with it.

Private hell as greed-ridden life starts to collapse

Here's a few of Belfort's reflections on his life being a pathetic criminal:

“The problem on Wall Street is you’re not creating anything. There’s no satisfaction. The only barometer you have is money. And money has no meaning. You try to attach meaning to money by buying possessions.”

If you want to make money, you have to train yourself to be obsessed with money. And then life starts to lose its meaning.

He started out as a criminal after a man who was bent taught him how to be bent too. (That'll be education, education, education). Interestingly Belfort had good intentions, thinking he'd only be bad occasionally and then go back to being nice.

But he lost his family, and then his freedom.

Before being locked up in prison, he said to his children: "I’ve made some serious mistakes and if you make mistakes there are consequences. I have to go away for a while… to jail."

And the upset among the family was huge. He mentions his wife and daughter in the interview I'm reporting on here. He has a son as well, the article said.

He says he's not spiritual and does not have integrity, unlike his new wife-to-be. Hopefully, things will change for the better for him now. Let's hope he's reformed - sounds like it.

Modern-day parable of gangster-ism. Learned anything?

Parable over. Suffice to say, if you're a knife and gun user - you can see what you can become in this post if you use criminal ways to try to get ahead. A complete tosser.

UK Election: Where's the crime policy pledges etc?

This is not good. I've been watching the UK election news since the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the general election for May 6... and not one word have I heard about crime, especially not knife or gun crime.

There's been Cameron and his twist on national service for young people (which can't really be criticised - unless young people don't want to participate, I thought). Then there's the economy being centre stage which all politicians have come to far too late. I just don't think they understand how to help the people they are supposed to serve. Labour seems to have helped a great deal avoid problems of the UB40 times from the 1980s - but it's not unlike trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. Banking matters should have been tackled much sooner.

And why is this relevant to knife crime? Because young people need to have something to aspire to - and a corrupt, unmanageable financial / economic system is not something to aspire to. In fact, it's a man-made, moral disaster for the globe and encourages criminality, it seems (as well as causing famines, poverty etc).

Come on politicians, what are your ways to tackle the knife crime scourge affecting society - and other violent crime? Bring on the debate...

Gun + knife criminals revel in their reputations

Browsing around WH Smith's (as all of us in England or other parts of the UK must have done at some time or another), the 'True Crime' section sounded alarm bells. A sizeable section made up of several shelves, the faces of the bad, the violent and the ugly were impossible to miss.

Time is at a premium as I write this so will add to this post later sometime. However, thought I would throw open this post to comments from all. What's your opinion about these type of people enjoying plenty of shelf space in our stores while the work of the good, the kind and the gentle often goes unnoticed? You tell me.

Regina v FREER - verdict: Sussex Police

Click on image above to see Brighton Trials Unit letter about Freer's conviction.

'No link' between autism and crime

The National Autistic Society has said there is no link between autism, including Asperger Syndrome, and crime - and there was no evidence to suggest people with autism were more likely to break the law than any member of the public.

In a statement, the society said: "In fact, in many cases individuals are unusually concerned to keep to the letter of the law. A person with autism will have individual personality traits and facets to their character, just like any other person, that make up who they are and determine their actions."

It said the syndrome was a form of autism that was a lifelong development disability which affected people in different ways and affected their social and communication skills.

It said there was concern that people with autism may be more vulnerable to criminal acts against them because of their social difficulties.

A charity providing support to people with autism has said Asperger Syndrome sufferers are not likely to be violent.

Lisa Perks, chief executive of the Sussex Autistic Society, said: "It is not common for someone with Asperger Syndrome that they will stab people. It is certainly not typical behaviour that someone with autism is violent."

She said service provision needed to catch up with the increase in diagnoses seen over the last few years.

Specialist schools did not suit all children with autism and support for people with the condition was determined on an individual basis, she said.

A mother of a child with autism was concerned by press coverage of the Shane Freer court case which she said has given people with the condition a reputation as criminals.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said great damage had been done.
"People on the autistic spectrum have enough difficulties to face without adding further public prejudice caused by ignorance and fear of their condition."

• Reports were taken from my local paper, the Chichester Observer