What are UK folks supposed to peel their oranges with?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7436141.stm
PM urges more knife prosecutions
The “presumption to prosecute” in knife crime cases should be extended, The prime minister has told prosecutors.
In a breakfast meeting with police and legal chiefs, Gordon Brown discussed plans to prosecute 16 and 17-year-olds caught carrying knives.
Current police guidance in England and Wales is to prosecute adults caught with a knife, but caution under-18s.
On Monday a 15-year-old girl who was stabbed became the 16th teenager to be fatally attacked in London this year.
Mr Brown met representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the director of public prosecutions at an early morning meeting in Downing Street on Thursday.
‘Feel safe’
MPs are also set to hold a special 90-minute Commons debate on the issue.
Currently the “presumption of prosecution” only applies to those aged over 18. Younger teenagers caught with a knife are often not charged or are cautioned.
[B] We need to send out a signal to those who carry knives for no good reason, that they can expect the police service to do its best to get them before a court [/B]
Ken Jones
Association of Chief Police Officers
Speaking after the meeting Mr Brown said: "Every young person who is carrying a knife needs to know they are not making themself safer but they are more likely to be injured.
"What we have got to make sure is every young person who is carrying a knife is a person who will end up in court and is going to be prosecuted.
“We want people to understand when they carry a knife they are putting other people at risk and it is unacceptable.”
Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald QC, told Mr Brown at the meeting: "When people come to us their expectation is a prosecution will follow.
"What we are proposing is that if people are carrying a knife and are prosecuted for other offences, they will be prosecuted for the knife too.
"We have set out some further guidance that the public interest is in favour of prosecution.
“It has become fashionable [to carry a knife]. What we want people to understand is they put themselves at risk carrying these sorts of weapons.”
‘Worrying trend’
Metropolitan Police figures show that the number of victims of knife crime have gone down. In the year to March 2008, there were 10,220 such crimes, compared with 12,124 for the previous year - a reduction of 15.7%.
But the number of 11 to 18-year-olds attacked with knives between April and July 2006 rose by 4.5% compared with the same period in 2005.
Last year 27 teenagers in London met violent deaths, compared with 17 in 2006 and 15 in 2005.
[B] If the answer was to lock up more young people then we would have solved the problem years ago [/B]
David Chaytor
Rainer youth charity
ACPO President Ken Jones said a "worrying trend" had emerged with more serious knife attacks and younger teenagers involved in attacks.
He told the BBC a clear message had to be sent: "You are not going to get ticked off for this, on first offence we will do our best to get you into court.
“I think this is the right thing to do and it’s sending a message out to youngsters: ‘don’t carry knives.’ Because it’s not just about enforcement, we’ve got to actually change the culture around this problem, and that involves all of us, frankly.”
But David Chaytor, of the youth charity Rainer, told the BBC: “If the answer was to lock up more young people, then we would have solved the problem years ago - we have already tripled the number of young people prosecuted for carrying a knife.”