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Amro Elbadawi |
Inquiry into knives says young people are in an ‘arms race’
Report finds youths carry weapons for ‘protection’
ANTI-KNIFE campaigners, including the former headteacher of Paddington Academy, where murdered schoolboy Amro Elbadawi was a pupil, have given evidence as part of a new government report that warns of a spiralling “arms race” among teens.
The report, published this week by the Commons home affairs select committee, on which Regent’s Park and Kensington North MP Karen Buck sits, says that carrying a knife is “normal” among many youngsters, and that more needs to be done to tackle the root causes of knife crime.
Ex-headteacher Philip Hearne told the inquiry that any pupil caught carrying a knife should face automatic expulsion, despite fears they may re-offend. He also voiced his support for controversial knife arch scanners – condemned by opponents as an inflammatory measure that criminalises youths.
Mr Hearne, who was also head at London Academy in Edgware when 15-year-old Kiyan Prince was fatally stabbed outside the gates, said the metal-detecting arches, which had been used during his time at Paddington, make young people feel safer.
He added: “The reason we introduced it was because people felt it was necessary to do so on two counts. Without any hierarchy to it, first, they felt safer, they wanted to prove to other people that they had nothing to hide. I think that it is for schools to make that decision based on what they and the community feel is the need.”
Growing fears surrounding “postcode gangs” were brought up by Ms Buck during the inquiry. It comes after police admitted for the first time of facing a “problem” with gangs in the north of the borough.
Schoolchildren from Paddington Academy, Quintin Kynaston and the Amberley Youth Club also gave evidence which is included in the 120-page report.
It advises taking a “public health” approach to knife crime, including early intervention with those at risk of deprivation, those who lack family support and those exposed to violence at home. It also warns that prison sentences are proving an ineffective long-term solution to violent crime, and that contrary to Mr Hearne’s views, in some cases knife arches can make pupils feel unsafe.
The report said: “Most young people who carry knives say they do so for ‘protection’ – status and peer pressure are also factors. This perceived need for protection is compounded by the sense, reinforced by media coverage of stabbings, that everyone else is carrying a weapon, as well as experience of victimisation.” It added that this was fuelling a spiralling “arms race”. |
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