STABBED dog helps noose tighten around knife criminals

STABBINGS of a police dog and his handler have brought a change in UK law to help ensure more severe penalties for knife crime offenders.

New legislation - dubbed Finn's Law - means stabbers who cause unnecessary suffering to public service animals like police dogs and horses can face tougher sentencing.

Finn is a German shepherd stabbed 'on duty'. He has been appearing this year on Britain's Got Talent with police dog handler PC Dave Wardell.

Police dog Finn stabbed by knife robber

Finn and Dave were both stabbed trying to arrest a man who tried to rob a taxi at gunpoint. Finn was stabbed in the head an chest while holding on to the suspect until reinforcements arrived, saving his handler from further injury.

It was believed Finn would die but survived. The robber was charged with ABH for wounds to PC Wardell's hand but only 'criminal damage' for stabbing Finn.

More details on BBC News: Stabbed police dog law passed

New PM Theresa May: Stance on knife crime

THERESA May is the new UK Prime Minister, so I just thought to take a look at her record on knife crime.

May has had a strong focus on changing policing (and I remember well her recent response on criticisms of policing during the Hillsborough travesty and subsequent cover-up at taxpayers expense).

She doesn't seem to think Tory or British politics might be at fault, deciding to give the Met Police a hard time about their public 'excuses' for what's causing rises in knife and other violent crime.

It's a complicated issue; interesting to read then this Telegraph article here where May says police knife crime claims are untrue. 

I've tweeted Government ministers, politicians and others over the past few months about the alarming rise in knife crime with little acknowledgement about how this is being tackled. Can't help feeling, in terms familiar to Christians like Theresa May, that my voice and that of other victims has been a 'voice crying in the wilderness' of British society, police and politics.

No doubt any movement down on knife crime statistics will be lauded by politicians as success of their policies, and the police could claim success too. Can we expect more silence if no improvement happens or things get worse so that UK streets become more dangerous? Probably - unless the Press and public figures can raise the temperature.

I noticed too that knife crime campaigners calls for better retail controls are being implemented, signalled by Theresa May at the Home Office’s International Crime and Policing Conference in March this year. This is good news... established business and ruling powers have listened to common sense.

I remember raising the retail issue on this blog way back in 2006 when a killer went to a local shop in my home city Chichester, spotted some deadly knives on sale and bought a huge hunting blade unchecked before going on to fatally stab Mcdonalds supervisor Jackie Marshall. It's 10 years since Jackie's killing but pleasing to see some real change for the better here.

Considering the above, I think the anti-knife crime movement is working. We are toiling away to try to make society safer and we seem to be making progress, although that progress is slower than we'd like.

Latest knife crime and violence figures:

Increases since Sept 2015 - homicides are up 11% (573 murders, an increase of 56) and offences involving knives and sharp instruments have increased by 9% to 28,008.

UK rise in violent crime over recent years

Please, join our work... Join the conversations and events you see online or offline about tackling this scourge of UK society and you will be joining the anti-knife - and anti-gun - crime campaigners... We are a force for good.

England + Wales trend: Less violence than rest of the world

TO BE AWARE crime in England and Wales shows a trend of non-violence should be considered encouraging for anti-knife crime work.

With all crime at the lowest levels for about 30 years, the non-violence trend brings real hope that campaigners can make much progress to further reduce crimes carried out with sharp instruments - where knife crime figures are circa 26,000+ per year at present.

The trend I highlight is connected to robberies. Robberies account for about 1% of recorded crime while burglaries register 24%. In the USA, while burglaries still outnumber robberies, the proportion of robberies in the crime total is 4x higher.

And how does the tally look for murders on this island of ours, the most serious of crimes? In fact, there is less chance of being murdered in England than most other industrialised societies, according to official figures. (I've flagged this in previous posts, some of you may recall.)

The English murder rate is below that for Japan, less than half that for Germany or France, an eighth of the rate for Scotland or Italy and 26x lower than the United States.

It seems this island of ours has more respect for one another than the citizens of many other countries spread across this fragile planet of ours.

I came across this analysis in Jeremy Paxman's book, The English.  His figure for numbers of robberies is perhaps misleading where the 'Violence against the person' figure (from the Office for National Statistics - ONS - website) is far higher - but the fact there is an obvious trend against violence in this country versus other nations is, as I said, hopeful.

Also notable is the type of Englishman (it's almost always a male!) Paxman highlights as prone to violence... someone like a football hooligan.

Paxman describes one incident where the Swiss had held England to a 1-1 draw in a European Championship match. The Swiss fans were good natured and relatively quiet and unthreatening.

However, at one point outside Wembley, a young shaven headed Englishman eyeballed the Swiss on the other side of the street, ran across the road, shoved his face six inches from one of the young Swiss men in the crowd and screamed 'Wanker' at him.

The Swiss look baffled. The Englishman gesticulated, moving his hand up and down. 'You wanker!' he screamed again, drew back his fist, punched the man in the face and walked through the crowd. 

His walk was casual, cocky, slow enough to invite someone to retaliate for their friend's injury - he was now doubled up, with blood pouring from his nose. But none came, and the thug swaggered off down the pavement, doubtless eager to tell his friends he'd 'done' one of the visiting fans.

Apparently, this is how part of the English population has always been. Fighting (and drunkenness) is considered to be a birthright, maybe. I certainly remember a few from my school days - and those older thugs from the odd Pompey match I had seen (of 657 Crew infamy) and plenty of documentaries on football hooliganism (e.g. Millwall and Chelsea types immediately come to mind).

I can't help thinking that this football fighter caricature applies to those idiots who use weapons. It is a way for these louts / yobs to proclaim their identity; these are the targets to reach. 

As time goes by, I can see that this anti-violence campaign work is not unlike an analogy with the Egyptians of old... an influential nationwide campaign and movement is being built, stone by stone, that deserves to see a remarkable monument (Pyramid) completed to mark a more peaceful nation and world... one day. I would like to predict this is achieved sooner rather than later.

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

How to kill... stabbed to death for £1500 'murder contract'

It was shocking and upsetting for me to learn of the circumstances around the killing of Penny Davis from the New Forest, who I knew quite well at school years ago. She was stabbed 14 times in a field where she spent time with her horses.

I remember Penny as an independent maybe somewhat opinionated young woman (aren't many of us that too?) - and I can imagine after reading the court coverage that, up to her murder, she was dealing with the sometimes painful tribulations of a troubled family life.

None of that is justification for taking a caring mum's life. Reading details of the trial, it was a callous, remorseless, unconscionable act. What on earth can make a step son take a measured, deliberate decision to have someone kill a mother in her late 40s?

I've posted a copy of the photos of the killers here - this is what knife murderers look like. How do they feel now, locked away for most of the rest of their lives (we hope), I wonder?

Sentenced to 30 years for conspiracy to murder, Benjamin Carr (right) - and Justin Robertson (left) sentenced to 32 years for murder

You can read the BBC trial report about Penny's killing and also details of the impact on the family in local paper coverage.

These evil pair are removed from society for a long time but the damnable stabbing they committed is now forever etched in history, greatly scarring and distressing a family and friends left behind. Who wants to be remembered for causing such suffering? You must be mad.

"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.

Knife and violent crime statistics for 2013 under the spotlight

IT IS CLAIMED the total number of crimes in the UK has fallen - and knife crime is said to have fallen about 15 per cent.

Total annual crime statistics for England and Wales show an 8% drop in police figures to 3.7 million and a 5% reduction in official crime survey data to 8.9 million crimes (allegedly the more reliable statistic according to civil servants, based on surveying 40k people about their experience of crime).

Sounds good? Well, politically, this has been hailed as good news (not least because it is claimed this is the lowest level since the crime survey began in 1981)... but - as this blog has highlighted regularly - a clearer understanding of the figures seems to still be required. And it would be helpful to get to the bottom of any hocus-pocus, jiggery-pokery going on by those compiling and publicising the data.

I have frequently cited the relative poor state of British crime reporting over the years since this anti-knife crime blog was started and confidence remains low when observing congratulatory, political back-thumping reports of such a large dip in crime this year, 2013, when in fact some infamous spin is apparently going on, making the truth difficult to discern.

Why, more precisely, is that? Because the published figures for many years seem to have been inconsistent. I don't fully understand why - maybe it's how they are communicated (by spin from government comms) or how they have been reported by the Press. Also, ways of reporting by the government have changed.

It is hardly surprising Whitehall is always keen to try to indicate crime is falling, or near to falling, whatever the truth actually is. This is not a cynical view but, in fact, a real observation... it is obvious as a general trend year after year (which, to be honest, I'd not noticed or looked out for in the past, not thinking our political masters would be that devious).

If anyone checks my 'knife crime statistics research' or in the right column (tag cloud) of this blog, it seems clear something odd has been going on with the crime figures year after year... at least the way figures are trotted out for public consumption. Spin is evident and journalists should more rigorously check and question data they get given. Under too great a pressure to deliver too much instant copy to 24-hour news deadlines (under-resourced newsrooms too), it is likely unscrupulous government comms people deliberately make it difficult for journos to see the (crime data) wood from the (crime data) trees.

However, one truth looks crystal clear... yet again no-one is directly accountable for knife crimes... many thousands of them. That is awful - no-one directly accountable for thousands of knife crimes. No-one we can go to and say: "How have you planned and delivered actions to reduce knife crime?" and observe a clear, well articulated, reasoned strategy clearly explained.

This should be unacceptable to those elected to solve these problems at about £70k a year per MP (that's a minimum salary, I think, nowadays). And what about the civil servants and police officers similarly charged... sheesh, I don't know what the answer is, but something is still way wrong.

The government and police cannot rightly claim they are positively affecting crime with data that is inconsistent (or what is better described as 'all over the place') year after year. It seems an undeniable truth that they may barely be believed - which is not a good place to be, law and order-wise.

Evidence I have accumulated via this blog is sufficient to starkly show the easy way the Media can be fooled to print what a propagandist, buck-shifting government (and police forces) can conspire to do, however they or civil servants dress it up.

When these annual crime statistics were published last year, I spent a great deal of time locating official figures for knife / sharp instrument crimes. That figure, published at the time, was 22,151 (this was a police figure - ONS figures weren't available at that time, according to my research). You can see the crime research last year that I did on this blog.

Now, the figure is hugely higher (not lower) at 26,336 (and this was presented as a drop from 31,147 in 2012). Next year, I wonder if we'll get (surprise, surprise) a drop again (closer to the 22,151) when due to, say, poorer social and economic conditions due to recessionary times, the figure has in fact been rising.

Any decent tax-paying, law-abiding citizen would be very concerned to see government and statisticians 'stuffing the pipeline' in this way... conveniently, the data is confusing at a time when it's 'opportune' for governments and careerist politicians to hide behind such confusion to disguise little progress - and then, worse, present data as good news.

Really, what goes on with this data? A more sceptical and studied consideration of the statistics seems required. Where are the government and police getting their figures from? Perhaps an independent audit is called for.

A note of caution too: it is concerning to observe pick pocketing and street thefts from individuals has gone up. One can't help thinking that the criminals who commit these crimes are a hair's breadth away from reaching for that pen knife - or other dagger - in their pocket and deciding to break the law and terrify, injure, traumatise - or kill - innocent victims.

So, while there are pats on the back about an alleged reduction in knife and some other crimes, it is important to appreciate the problems are not solved... they aren't by a long way... 3.7m or 8.9m crimes across the nation is not a figure to be proud of, neither is 26,336 knife crimes.  The anti-knife crime campaigning must continue - such a level of knife attacks are too high for comfort from anyone's reasonable assessment of the UK crime environment.

It looks like a central repository for crime data is now easily visible and transparent to the public. If this stays, and governments don't change the goalposts for political or electoral convenience, we might be able to clearly monitor crime statistics, see how they move and have our rulers / governors be accountable for how they are focusing on reducing what still are horrendous figures of crime in this country.

And I go back to my reasonable point that there should be a target to reduce knife and violent crime - and all those working on that project be aligned and communicate progress on a monthly or quarterly basis to the nation at large. With such an approach, we may see the start of a focal point for the bereaved and injured to feel involved with, and to affect improvement in a safer society. As ever, we live in hope.

Knife crime reports and data sources for this blog post, referenced July 2013:

• UK crime at lowest level for 30 years - The Guardian
• The curious case of the fall in crime - The Economist
• Over 1000 London knife crime victims each month - Evening Standard
• Crime in England + Wales year ending March 2013 - ONS (Office for National Statistics)

Examining knife crime facts in the UK for solutions - part 2

MOST of this millennium, Government data from the Home Office couldn't tell anyone much about knife crime. Thank goodness this is changing... hopefully.

But as recently as 2008, it was the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown who tried to respond to a rising sense of alarm by holding a knife crime summit while not in full possession of the facts, and David Cameron, Tory opposition party leader as he then was, who described knife crime as an epidemic and Britain as a broken society.

Both politicians were inaccurate to a great extent - or, assuming some public manipulation, do we say 'economic with the truth' - to try to make some political capital, as well as make a bit of real progress maybe, if lucky, from a time of public alarm.

Political leopards don't change their spots, it seems, and here was a classic case. At the time, Gordon Brown's team decided to use NHS statistics - which counted patients discharged from hospital with stab wounds - and claim there had been a 27% drop in numbers of stab victims. Unfortunately, hospitals hadn't finished counting the stab victims and they told the PM so. 

British politics and politicians - and civil servants + the media too - never cease to amaze me at these times with demonstrative unprofessionalism and seeming lack of realism. In this instance they went ahead and published these figures, effectively perpetuating a false myth (and dare I say using infamous spin) by announcing misleading data... and thus causing immense consternation to many, once again, about the way our governing masters operate. These figures did in fact prove to be inaccurate - yet 'don't let the truth get in the way of a good story', eh?

If you can't trust those paid and working full-time to be looking out for the British population's interests, who can you trust? And that's one of the reasons why victims of crime, knife crime or any other, find it so hard to get peace after the death of loved ones... because those supposed to represent them right up to the highest level have too often been shown up to not be in charge of their brief, not effectively helping or supporting them, innocent victims of loved ones violent deaths. Communications between victims and the powers-that-be at these times can often be relatively poor, perhaps mainly due to the immense grief, pain and mourning experienced.

Maybe I'm a little hard on these well-paid bureaucrats? You tell me. 

To be fair on those who have worked for knife crime reductions, knifings apparently dropped about 8% in 2008, probably with police attention and the huge focus and attention at the time given by knife and violent crime campaigners including this blog to make a difference.

From the above, the political process has been shown to be a real detriment to best solving problems in this country. Party politicians, keen to show they are better at law and order than the others, squabble over semantics in the public arena rather than focus time and public resources on solutions.

How much more helpful it would be to have a target to reduce knife and violent crime and all those working on that project aligned and communicating progress on a monthly or quarterly basis to the nation at large. There you would be better able to see the start of a focal point for the bereaved and injured to feel involved, and to affect positive change too possibly.

But no, that's not evident; political and media noise distorts the situation, no-one steps up to be accountable in case of failure, and everyone wonders what exactly is the true picture, who is working on the solution, how solutions will be enacted etc.

Knife crime statistics are still 'challenging' to understand. It is reprehensible of politicians and government that, with blades and other stabbing implements responsible for the largest share of killings, official crime statistics have not ever included a category for knives, right up to the end of the last millennium... How on earth do you overlook this during all that time? Because no-one has truly been accountable - and that must be a failure of government, police and civil servant management, and taxes must have been wasted without that accountability. This must be a fact, else matters would be better run and communicated.

One would feel more confident in our ruling classes if they were in command of the crime brief - but here is yet another example of these people demonstrating, as they frequently do, a high level of amateurish-ness and lack of accountability with regard to understanding and solving crime affecting the nation. It is clear that government departments, political parties and the police are not well informed and connected on issues far too often. Perhaps it keeps them in a job to run things this way? Perish the thought.

I mentioned in part 1 of this mini-essay that in the book 'Britain etc', the journalist Mark Easton (Home Editor at the BBC) reports... "As a rough average, two people are murdered every day in Britain. The most common weapon used is a blade or other sharp instrument. The most likely stab victim is a young man." In fact, a third of all murders are caused by some kind of blade or other stabbing implement.

Ffs - however you might try to rationalise it, that is terrible (although still one of the lowest killing rates recorded in the UK since medieval records were kept apparently - and lower than many other countries in the world today too).

As indicated in Easton's research, after Labour's PM Gordon Brown set up the Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) in 2008, it was quietly buried less than a year following its formation and the authorities went back, once again, to measuring only the broad category of 'violent crime'.

But then with so many other problems in the country and world, perhaps it's not surprising that time and attention on one ill is not apparently as available (as, say, for war, foreign aid or the Olympics). And can you really knock politicians when they demonstrate natural human concern to solve such a problem?

Well, it's not about knocking them - it's about the fact they are paid full-time to solve this and other important problems. What's their plan? What is being measured regularly to check progress - and how is that effectively communicated so people know it's being done? Where is the accountability?

What do we pay our politicians and civil servants to do? Or rather, where are our taxes going if not to provide clear solutions, providing us with regular evidence that progress is being made? Much of the buck around this must stop with them.

And that completes part 2 of this blog's series looking more closely at how to solve knife crime in this country - and possibly the world. Next time, I'll look at the poverty factor causes knife crime problems and how young people are demonised in Britain leading to misbehaviour and illegal carrying and use of knives.

Ban the Voodoo knife block in 2012!

CAN someone explain to me why anyone would buy the voodoo knifeman kitchen block? It is unfathomable why this sickening knife 'toy' (for adults, allegedly) is still on sale for use in the home.

If I was to write a review about these it would say: "Sickening rubbish: if you are anti-knife crime, do not buy!"

Knifeman stand / Sickening stabbing block

I spotted Red or Dead co-founder Wayne Hemingway and his other half Gerardine had one in a photo of their kitchen carried in Hello! magazine last year (like the one inset on this knife crime post).

It is baffling why prominent people, such as these trendy / fashion-conscious partners - with huge fashion design credentials - would own such offensive crap. (You may recall Wayne Hemingway recently moved the Vintage Festival event from Chichester / Goodwood to London, unsuccessfully apparently; here's another example of poor judgement then.)

When this knife crime blog first started, I remember highlighting how people in the fashion industry have some kind of sick love affair with violence, stabbing, death, knives, guns etc. Do you recall the post? You can read it again here (about an Italian fashion house... must be something in the sick mafia blood over there): Boycott Dolce & Gabbana over idiot knife adverts.  Think D&G removed the ad (thank goodness!) but the BBC report is still live and explains all and the ASA ban on this horrendous advert is still accessible. Wonder how many more fashionista idiots abound... let me know!

In any event, let's have the anti-knife crime campaigners get these voodoo 'blade blocks' banned, let's have retailers remove them from shop shelves and online stores stop stocking them. At the very least we need to embarrass (odd!) people, such as the Hemingway's, buying them. If you bought one by accident, just bin it (try metal recycling perhaps, pop it in at one of the world's police stations, or drop it off in a local knife amnesty bucket somewhere).

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.

Latest knife crime statistics - Spring 2011

Numbers of crimes using knives last year (2010) have fallen 4.26% - total 'knife crimes' are recorded by police as 29259 which is 1301 less than 2009.

Can't help thinking the work of anti-knife crime campaigners everywhere is helping make this difference. We can take some credit for that significant drop, hopefully. That said, with all statistics, a healthy scepticism and closer examination is pretty much always required.

Still, looks like progress, and if these latest knife crime figures convey a reasonable picture of progress, we can consider that our campaigning works and we need to stay strong and focused on improving the work done so far and dripping the anti-knife crime message into our communities and those inclined to violence.

It is a mammoth mountain still to climb of course. And no-one can replace - or forget - loved ones who have been lost to blades and other weapons. Imagine these facts alone are enough to keep us pushing on though.

More statistics on knife crime:

Knife killings totalled 200 in 2010, three more than the 197 recorded in 2009. And behind that figure lies the tragedy of many people trying to re-build lives after losing loved ones.

Attempted murders using knives were shown to fall by 57 to 206, 22% less than the 263 recorded in 2009.

Closer inspection of the 2010 knife crime statistics shows robberies using knives rose to 14279, a three (3) per cent increase from recorded knife robberies in 2009 (13908).

Robbers with knives are ones to be wary of - killers in waiting. Do you know any thieves? They seem more likely to use knives so worth trying to target them.

Rapists too seem to favour using knives to get their sickening way. An 11% increase in rapes with knives has been recorded - from 213 blade rapes in 2009 to 239 last year.

Threats to kill using knives also rose year-on-year in 2010 from 1,419 to 1,454. Gun /  firearms crimes dropped seven (7) per cent last year.

Collection anomalies mean West Midlands police force figures are not included in this analysis - which means conclusions reached above might be off the mark. Can anyone send me this data?

Figures sourced from the British Crime Survey and police statistics in England and Wales via an article in The Guardian.

Raoul Moat... and in search of peace in this world

Raoul Moat is dead (the Northumberland gunman who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend's partner, injured her and a policeman). He shot himself - in the head it seems - after a six-hour stand-off when cornered by police snipers and negotiators

"Good riddance," we hear some say.

But what a failure for society - and education - that someone can become like that. I do feel some pity and sadness for the man even though he had killed. What makes someone that angry, murderous and suicidal? Surely we can stop people becoming like that? Don't know - maybe not; he had a choice about how he should behave and trod the wrong road. And that's the end of that - and him.

Raoul Moat's gun violence and criminal killing spree did start me thinking about peace. Moat wasn't making peace with anyone - he was on a warpath, sad and tragic to say.

But what about the peacemakers? How do they go about their campaigns to make the world a more peaceful, safer place? Think this is what goes through people's minds - in one form or another. Have you got the right mindset to bring peace?

"

I want to be a means of peace - let me work to be that.

Where there's hatred grown, let me sow love.

Where there's injury, let forgiveness be my sword.

Where there's doubt and fear, let me sow things to believe and trust in that are strong.

Where there's sadness here, let me sow some joy.

When darkness nears, may I bring some light to dispel people's fears.

I would like to share more, to receive love less and give more love - for free, no strings.

Please may I forgive, as others forgive me for my errors and sometime error prone ways.

And then there will be more peace. May I become a means of bringing that peace. 

"

Critics of Lucy Cope + this blog's stance on carrying guns & knives

I've just published three comments made on my opinion about the BBC's Big Questions debate today on guns in Britain. You can view them here. Here's my response to some of the points made.

As people who are familiar with this blog are aware, I publish only facts when it comes to crime statistics. The anonymous poster (yet another anonymous critic that sometimes hides behind 'no name / identity' to snipe at me on this blog) questioned this factual statement that I made:

"Sadly the statistics show people are more likely to end up stabbed if they actually carry a knife. The same would undoubtedly happen with guns."

Well, the answer to that is contained in the government campaign described in this BBC news article about knife crime and the fact s/he has queried is promoted by none other than the Association of Chief Police Officers - so feel free to contact them to discuss this issue.

[This fact has been queried by some blog readers so here's a link for people to do their own research and form their own conclusions - various knife crime research sources are shown including the Royal Armouries knife crime literature review. Really, people need to step back and see common sense here... if you carry a knife and that blade is turned on you, you are more likely to be hurt by it. And also - ultimately, if you carry a weapon (even for genuine protection) you are not being peaceable. There's simply no justification for any irresponsible escalation of violence that leads to stabbing or shooting.]

Criticising Lucy Cope, a mother who has lost a son to gun crime, is insensitive, unfeeling, unhelpful and marks that person out to be someone who does not understand the perils of carrying weapons. If there was a case for guns to be allowed to be carried across the UK, s/he just undermined it.

Reflecting a little further, I think the aggressive nature and style of these comments highlight the importance of not giving aggressive people free access to guns.

I feel no shame questioning a man who publicly advocates carrying guns - quite the opposite, I feel right to do it. Showell's is not a peaceful mission. The words 'peaceful' and 'gun carrier' make no sense at all and cannot go together. That said, weapons sometimes have to be used in self-defence - but allowing ordinary, untrained citizens of a nation to arm themselves in an apparently arbitrary fashion lacks, at the very least, plain common sense.

The curious case of the Mylene Klass knife crime affair

The Mylene Klass knife crime affair sounds like some kind of strange publicity stunt - for police and Klass.

When a gang of hoodlums threaten you at your house, are you likely to provoke them by waving a knife? Possibly most unwise in the extreme when you'd rather not have violent thugs bursting in, trying to take you out.

I'm sure the police were right to warn her about brandishing a knife. Klass said she did it because it was something any mother would do. I'm not sure they would... would you, Mum? Better to call 999 maybe - but then what would you do waiting for the emergency services to turn up?

Publicity for celebrities around knife crime is a difficult issue. They can seem to benefit from some association with it but haven't really stepped up to the plate and worked to solve it, have they?

That said, it's a dangerous platform to put your name too - it could make you an assassination target.

In Mylene's case, no-one should have to put up with any kind of gang wandering about their private property. Very scary indeed.

Overall, curious. Interesting that it prompted this article on the BBC website. Free publicity for lawyers.

Knife crime statistics for London - May 2009

Not sure it's great news - but there appears to be progress in London. The Metropolitan Police have announced some knife crime statistics across the capital including figures showing that stabbing injuries are down by almost a third (30%).

A quote from a senior office probably describes the situation realistically: "There is still too much violence, still far too many kids carrying weapons, still far too many kids getting involved in what they would call a gang. This is not job done, it's job ongoing and we've got to maintain our focus."

The police have been arresting people at the rate of one stabber every 51 minutes (arrests have totalled 10266). Some 5480 bladed weapons were seized with most found to carry knives (90%) being charged with a 'possession' offence.

Doubt has been cast on aspects of this statistic reporting with anti-knife campaigners pointing out that many more people are being stabbed than are being reported, indicating accident and emergency statistics provide a more accurate picture.

More details of London's knife crime statistics.