| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12.31 pm
Lady Olga Maitland (Sutton and Cheam): I add my congratulations to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Provan (Mr. Wray) on bringing forward his important Bill. He made only one mistake: he should have asked me to become one of his sponsors, because I would have done so with the greatest of pleasure, especially as his Bill follows neatly on the Offensive Weapon Act 1996, which I introduced to the House this year. His Bill will be a further step towards breaking the knife culture. That is an issue that I have been following since 1987, when I came across the Dennison family from Bethnal Green and Stepney, whose 17-year-old son had been tragically stabbed to death.
The number of knife-related incidents in this country is disturbingly high. Despite the Dunblane tragedy, more people are killed by the knife than by the gun. There are reports all over the newspapers today about the widow, Alice Rye, who opened her door to a killer who sexually assaulted her and then stabbed her to death--one more tragic case in a long catalogue. In the past week alone, stories of two knife incidents have appeared in the national press. We read of the 15-year-old schoolboy who was slashed with a knife during a history lesson at a Dulwich school. We heard of the trial of the 15-year-old boy who plunged a 4 in knife into the chest of his best friend and killed him. We do not even hear about the rest of the incidents.
The tender years of those assailants is not unusual. The problem is most acute among males in their mid-teens, beginning as young as 13 and through to the early 20s. It has been pointed out to me by the police that the vast majority of those teenagers come from chaotic family backgrounds, largely--I regret to say--single-parent ones.
In the year to April 1995, 2,550 offences of violence against the person in the Metropolitan police area involved knives or other sharp instruments and each year the figure increases. Sutton, a seemingly peaceful, green and leafy suburb, has had its share of tragedies. Earlier this year, my research assistant was the victim of an attempted knife-point robbery.
Above all, we must pay tribute to the police, the men and women who pay such a high price while trying to protect us as we go about our business. I am sorry to sound in a discordant note, but I am disappointed that Labour Members somehow forgot to mention the police, which I am sure they would have done had they reflected.
Mr. Michael:
In my speech, I referred to the great co-operation that we have had from the police andfrom the difference associations, particularly the superintendents. We have had extended discussions in trying to help my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow,
13 Dec 1996 : Column 556
Lady Olga Maitland:
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks. I concede that he had discussions with the police, but I was seeking a tribute to the sacrifice that they have made, which goes one stage further.
In 1994 alone, more than 1,000 police officers in England and Wales were seriously assaulted and injured. In the past 10 years, eight officers have died directly as a result of stabbing. Two years ago, Sergeant Derek Robertson, the father of two children, was stabbed to death when he was called to the scene of robbery at a sub-post office in Croydon.
I have met some brave officers who have been stabbed. Their experiences are humbling and we do not appreciate how much they have gone through. Interestingly, they tell me that, unlike the fights depicted on television, a knife fight is usually over almost as soon as it has begun. For example, in an incident in north London, an attacker was able to stab three officers--one a woman, Helen Barnett--11 times in the time it took a fourth officer to cross one lane of stationary traffic. The attack that led to the tragic death of Philip Lawrence was over in a matter of seconds. How right Frances Lawrence was when she said:
My Act, which was spelt out in detail by my right hon. Friend the Minister, made significant steps along the way. It gave the police powers of arrest when they have found someone carrying a knife without a good reason. That was an important measure because, until then, the police could issue that person only with a summons.
The Act also brought in stiffer penalties for possessing knives and a ban on the sale of knives to children aged 16 and under. I hope that we shall keep that age under review and that we might reflect that it would be more effective and more powerful if we raised it to 18. Above all, the Act introduced the important measure of giving police powers to go into schools to make searches and, if necessary, arrests. That measure was warmly received by teachers. My Act, therefore, paved the way for this one.
Some of the provisions in this Bill were discussed during the passage of my Act. I too have been concerned about the way in which knives are advertised in magazines. Some advertisements are disturbingly written. It is done in such a way as to incite the purchaser not only to buy the knife, but to commit a brutal and appalling offence. The language includes such phrases as "razor sharp stainless steel",
What worries me is how easy it is to buy hideous and brutal knives anonymously through the post with no questions asked. Police magazine put a Sussex firm to the test by using a credit card to send off for a 7 in stainless steel jungle Yatagan Bowie, priced £27.50. It came back by return of post. The Bowie knife was known to the police because, a few days earlier, a man had killed his employer using such a knife, which not only severed the victim's ribs but brought his lungs out on the serrated edge. West Midlands police drew attention to the great dangers of this type of weapon being advertised. In the sales literature, the makers shamelessly describe the knife as
I share the reservations of the Police Federation, which feels that, although we are trying hard to remove inciting advertising slogans, there is a danger that the retailers will simply describe the knives as hunting or sporting knifes. Therefore, we must keep a careful watch on how effective the measure will be. As in all things, we can come back to the measure to see how we can improve it. I very much hope that, ultimately, we will devise a method of defining such knives so that they too can be banned. I realise that that is difficult. It is a challenge, but I do not believe that it is beyond us.
At present, we must content ourselves with curbing the marketing of such knives, and I welcome the provisions in the Bill to make it a criminal offence to market them and to give the police powers to seize both the publications and the knives themselves. I welcome the fact that the penalty could be a maximum of six months in gaol and a heavy fine. I also welcome the fact that the police will be able to search not only a person, but any premises--be it a home, a shop, an office, a factory or even a tent. The police will be able also thoroughly to search cars, ships and aircraft to tackle smuggling. Most knives are bought over the counter, but such is the pernicious nature of the advertisements that to curb them and the appetites for such knives and weapons must be worth while--after all, one fewer knife sold is certainly likely to be another life saved.
The most significant part of the Bill gives the police powers to stop and search where they fear a serious risk of violence over a period of 24 hours. This is where I see the greatest progress being made in tackling knife crime. The police have been frustrated for a long time about their search and arrest powers, and that was another issue that I looked at carefully in drafting the Offensive Weapons Bill. I, at least, was able to give the police greater powers
13 Dec 1996 : Column 558
The law has been too restrictive. For example, if a police officer on patrol comes across a group of youths outside a disco and suspects that there could be trouble, under the rules of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, unless he has reason to believe that a knife is being held--not just a hunch, but because he has been told that it is or has seen a knife--he cannot instigate a search. A police officer cannot stop and search someone on account of the colour of their skin, the shape of the eyes, the haircut, the style of clothing, or even the knowledge that the person has previous convictions for carrying knives. Often, knives come to light too late, when the damage has been done or when the carrier is being searched in connection with another offence.
The laws have also been too restrictive for effective policing, especially if violence is brewing or we know that it is likely to happen. While I agree about the need to protect citizens from unreasonable demands for searches, the balance must also be struck for the right of the public to go about their business safely and with a calm mind. There is no question of returning to the much-hated sus laws. I did not hear the remarks made by the spokesman from Liberty on the radio this morning, but if I had, I would have choked over my coffee. I would have taken grave exception to them, given the way in which Liberty has been portrayed in the House today. Clearly, the civil liberties lobby was getting its sense of proportion wrong. We ought to be protecting the public first.
With that in mind, I entirely support the move to give the police the right to stop and search if they fear that violence may break out in a locality and that offensive weapons, such as knives, might be used. The Bill stipulates only that a superintendent should have the power to authorise searches. I suggest to my right hon. Friend the Minister that that could be a cumbersome process. The police officer at the scene would have to refer back to his superintendent. It would make more sense to give that authority to the station inspector, who could be required to report regularly to his superintendent on his radio telephone.
I also question whether 24 hours is sufficient. I suggest that 48 hours would be a more realistic and flexible time frame, although I accept that the 24-hour period is renewable. It will be wise for the House to consider carefully how that clause works in practice.
We ought to learn from the experiences and successes of Operation Blade, which was set up by Strathclyde police, who already have much those wider powers. They had to take action to counter the unacceptably high level of violent crime. Random searches were first carried out over a period of three months in 1993. Nearly 30,000 people were stopped and searched, and 548 offensive weapons were seized. Such was the professional manner in which the operation was carried out that only four people complained, each of whom was subsequently found with a knife.
Clearly, there are lessons to be learned. Strathclyde police began with a massive public education programme in the media. They put out a poster, which went everywhere, with a telling photograph of a young man
13 Dec 1996 : Column 559
The Strathclyde police also had a plan for people to surrender their knives--not an amnesty, because that almost sounds like forgiveness--into knife bins placed in strategic places, such as pubs, clubs and fast food restaurants, but not police stations, where people with a guilty conscience who are fearful of being identified would not bin their knives. It was effective, and many thousands of weapons were handed in as a result. The retailers played their part, and 87 of them withdrew knives from display because they could have been deemed to inciting bad behaviour.
The programme also included schools. It was interesting in human terms that there was a reduction in the number of people admitted to casualty departments in local hospitals. The Glasgow Royal infirmary reported a 50 per cent. drop in serious stab wounds.
The experiment in Scotland has been extremely successful. The random stops and searches continue over limited periods, so that people know when they are happening, and they are now accepted as a matter of course. Public support is essential for such measures; that has been achieved in Scotland, and knife crime is beginning to decrease.
"A knife is an inanimate object and it needs a human being to invest it with murderous properties."
I have already referred briefly to my private Member's Bill, now the Offensive Weapons Act 1996, which I took through the House. To tackle the overwhelming culture of knives takes a united will by all of us, which is why we are here and so supportive of the hon. Member for Provan. I rushed my contribution forward and pressed the Home Office to allow me to introduce the Bill the very weekend that Philip Lawrence died. I knew that we would have public support for firm and direct action.
"nearly half a foot long when opened",
and
"belt sheaf knife--ready for action".
13 Dec 1996 : Column 557
I discussed the problem at length with Home Office officials and with the Advertising Standards Authority, but the answers were not satisfactory. I was told that as the ASA had received very few complaints--barely a dozen in recent years--it felt that there was no cause for action. That may be so, but it does not reflect the concerns of a large number of people. In any case, the ASA has few powers of sanction at the best of times. However, I concede that it did undertake a review, and it was important to see the outcome; even if--as the hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Mr. Michael) would agree--it was not very helpful. We had to give the ASA a chance.
"designed to go with the arm to maximise the cutting edge."
That knife is still available today.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |