Dad Tackles London Knife Crime: ‘There’s No Shame in Running’

NTD Newsroom
By NTD Newsroom
November 16, 2019UK
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A father’s simple message on how to defend yourself from a knife attack went viral in 2018.

Anti-knife crime activist Garvin Snell from the UK said there’s no shame in running away if you’re attacked on the street.

Snell runs a youth center in West London that offers young people a place to hang out, off the streets.

“Trying to give young people a better outlook on life, a bit more ambition in themselves, so they’ve got a bit more hope and ambition in life,” he told NTD.

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan said last year the capital will take a “public health approach” to violent crime, an increasing amount of which is due to knives.

Khan’s approach would mean looking beyond one sector and getting different sectors of society—like health and education—working together to reduce and prevent violence.

NTD Photo
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, answers questions from the audience during the State of London Debate in London, England on June 27, 2019. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

Eric Smith, a former police officer in Glasgow, said while the crime statistics may show a decrease, many crimes go unreported.

Snell said more funding is needed to keep youth centers open so young people can feel part of a community, find their confidence, burn off steam if they need to, and come off the streets.

Knife Crime Hits Record High

The knife crime epidemic plaguing England and Wales has hit a record high, new figures for the year ending in March 2019 show, with sharp instrument offenses up by 8 percent year on year.

The data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows there were 43,516 police-recorded offenses in the UK for the year ending in March 2019 involving a knife or sharp instrument.

Compared to 2014 figures—a low point in offenses committed using sharp instruments since records began in 2011—the new historic high represents an alarming 80 percent increase in knife crime.

Rural areas in Britain, meanwhile, have seen a 50 percent rise in knife crime year on year, while over the past four years the proportion of crimes solved in the UK overall has plummeted by half.

The March 2019 figures show only 7.8 percent of crimes result in a charge or summons, while four years ago that figure stood at 15 percent.

“The picture of crime is a complex one. Overall levels of crime have remained steady, but this is not the case for all types of crime,” said ONS’ Mark Bangs, via Sky News, adding that there were increases in “violent crimes involving knives and sharp instruments” and “fraud and overall theft.”

Policing minister Nick Hurd was cited by the Telegraph as saying, “We are deeply concerned that certain offences, including serious violence, have increased and we are taking urgent action.”

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(UK Home Office)

Reporting by Jane Werrell

Epoch Times reporter Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.

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