THE grieving family of an innocent victim of Britain's blade culture sent a message yesterday to Gordon Brown and the courts: Get tougher on knife crime.
John Jenkins's relatives spoke out after the two men who murdered him in a drink-fuelled, frenzied and unprovoked attack were jailed for a minimum of only 25 years between them.
As cousins John Edgar, 24, and David McCaig, 18, were given their
life sentences at the High Court in Edinburgh, the Prime Minister was warning parents they had a duty to keep their children under control, amid escalating public fears about youth knife crime.
After a series of high-profile stabbings north and south of the Border, Mr Brown acknowledged that many people felt unsafe in their own homes. But his government was accused of backtracking on proposals outlined by the Home Secretary at the weekend to send youngsters caught with knives into hospitals to see the damage wrought by blades.
Mr Jenkins, 27, died from multiple stab wounds after encountering the cousins as he walked to work in Livingston at about 8.30 am on 1 December last year. The court heard that the killers' only motive seemed to be a desire to use violence on anyone who crossed their path.
Edgar was found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict and McCaig by a majority vote. The judge, Roger Craik, QC, told them they were "responsible for the gratuitous and brutal death of a totally innocent young man" who had the "misfortune to meet up with you both". He sentenced Edgar, of Scotstoun, Glasgow, who used the knife, to life with a minimum period of 15 years. McCaig, from Stonebank, Ladywell, Livingston, was ordered to serve at least ten years.
Outside court, the victim's father, Bill Jenkins, 54, of East Calder, West Lothian, said:
"I honestly do not think justice has been served. (Edgar] should have got at least 25 years for such a brutal and unprovoked attack.
"I think the government and courts need to come up with something to get really tough on knife-carrying. At the moment, kids in primary school are carrying knives."
Turning his attention to the Prime Minister, who is already under fire from opposition politicians and medical experts, Mr Jenkins said: "I do not think any of Gordon Brown's ideas are going to do anything. To me, if you are going to carry a knife, it is like carrying a gun … you are going to use it at some time."
He said that instead of being taken to hospital to see the effects of knives, young offenders should be taken to the morgue. "My wife and I had to identify our son," he said. "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."
At his regular Downing Street news conference yesterday, Mr Brown repeatedly stressed that, while youngsters carrying knives were more likely than ever to be caught, prosecuted and "severely" punished, the responsibility lay with their parents. "I think all of us recognise that the first responsibility where a child is in trouble or in danger of getting into trouble rests with the parent," he said.
"Too many people, young and old, do not feel safe in the streets, and sometimes even in their homes, as a result of the behaviour of a minority.
"We need to make it absolutely clear to everyone, but especially young people, that in our country there are boundaries of acceptable behaviour (and] that it is completely unacceptable to carry a knife."
Foreshadowing a £100 million youth crime action plan for England and Wales, to be published today, Mr Brown said community punishments would be strengthened to make them "tough, visible and effective".
Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, has previously outlined to The Scotsman plans to bring in sentencing guidelines for knife offences north of the Border.
But the Prime Minister did not associate himself closely with controversial plans rushed out by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, who was widely criticised for suggesting knife offenders should be confronted with the consequences of their actions.
Donald Mackechnie, the clinical vice-president of the College of Emergency Medicine, attacked the idea of offenders being "marched" through wards to meet knife victims, but the Home Office stressed Ms Smith had never suggested face-to-face contact. The Conservatives accused the government of a U-turn and of "jumbling together a series of ideas".
Meanwhile, the fallout from a weekend of knife violence continued to be felt by victims and their families. A 22-year-old man stabbed in a frenzied attack at T in the Park was recovering in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, while police continued to search for the two men they believe to be responsible.
In Bristol, a woman aged 42 was arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of John Derrick, 43, on Saturday night. Two men had already been arrested.
The family of Paul Gilligan, 31, who was fatally stabbed in a pub in Bolton on Sunday, described him yesterday as a "beautiful person". A 19-year-old man was being questioned by police on suspicion of murder.
At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Darren Cornelius, 18, once branded Scotland's most dangerous teenager, apologised to the family of an inmate, Ryan Gandy, whom he slashed in prison.
Sentence was deferred for reports.
Life terms for two callous killers who beat and stabbed stranger
IT WAS a cold December morning when John Jenkins left his older sister's house to walk to work. The young chef was a regular visitor to her home in Livingston, West Lothian, where he would often drop by to play football with her young son.
But on that fateful day, he changed his normal route to buy gas for the cooker lighter he used in his job.
The change of direction took him to Loan Path, Ladywell, Livingston, and to a meeting with cousins John Edgar and David McCaig, both strangers to him. As the court would hear, he was in "the wrong place at the wrong time".
Edgar, of Scotstoun, Glasgow, had gone to Livingston after a row with his girlfriend and was still wearing the black clothing he had worn to a funeral the previous day.
He and McCaig, of Stonebank, Ladywell, had been drinking before they stumbled across the chef.
The encounter was short, bloody and violent.
The attackers then walked away shouting and "play-fighting" with each other before throwing the knife down a drain.
WITHIN minutes, Mr Jenkins, described by his family as a "gentle giant" and who also had a twin sister, was being pronounced dead.
He had suffered nine stab and slash wounds, and had also been punched, kicked and stamped on.
There were no defensive injuries, suggesting he had been taken by surprise.
"There can have been little or any time for a significant argument to develop," the advocate-depute, Simon Collins, told the jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.
"As far as the Crown can tell, this was a crime without reason. There seems to have been no motive other than the desire by the attackers to inflict extreme violence on another human being.
"John Jenkins was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"You may think that's frightening. You may find the contempt for human life displayed in this case almost unbearable."
The jury convicted both accused of murdering Mr Jenkins – Edgar by a unanimous verdict, and McCaig by a majority vote.
SENTENCING the pair, Roger Craik, QC, said: "You are both responsible for the gratuitous and brutal death of a totally innocent young man who had the misfortune to meet up with you both on his way to work that fateful morning.
"The evidence demonstrated you were both fuelled up with drink and probably drugs, and you, Edgar, chose to arm yourself with a large knife.
"In the course of this brief encounter, nine serious injuries were inflicted on him, four of which were potentially fatal.
"Your part, McCaig, was to associate with the murderous attack and to punch and repeatedly kick the victim as he lay dying.
"You both walked off, shouting and play-fighting, and the weapon was disposed of down a nearby drain."
The judge said he could impose different sentences because of McCaig's more limited role and because he was probably under the influence of his older cousin.
Bill Jenkins, 54, said of his son: "I never saw that boy raise his voice in anger, never mind fight or anything."
His wife, Sarah, 52, added: "They (Edgar and McCaig] were out looking for trouble that morning and our John was in the way.
"I don't think it would have made any difference who was on that path."
Mary Jenkins, 27, said her twin brother was a gentleman. "He would give you the last pound in his pocket or the shirt off his back. Everybody liked him. His boss said it would be hard to replace him."
Janet Jenkins recalled her brother's regular visits to her home. She said: "He would be in the house for ten minutes and there would be a chap at the door, the kids asking if he would come out and play football.
"He played with them all the time and the kids loved him."
Court sees teenager cut inmate with razor bladeA VIOLENT teenager who was locked up for life for being a danger to the public was caught on CCTV slashing the face of a fellow inmate with a razor blade.
The footage of Darren Cornelius – branded Scotland's most dangerous teenager after a series of violent assaults – attacking Ryan Gandy was shown at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday.
Cornelius, 18, was shown walking up to Mr Gandy, who was on remand, as he played table tennis in the communal area of Glenesk Hall at Edinburgh prison on 22 July last year.
The court was told the pair had argued, but Cornelius had later apologised, before carrying out the unprovoked slashing the next day.
He admitted the assault, which left Mr Gandy severely injured and permanently scarred, and he will be sentenced later this week.
Cornelius was just 11 when he subjected a nine-year-old girl to a terrifying knife attack at a cinema complex in Edinburgh, stabbing her eight times.
In October last year, Cornelius admitted punching and stabbing Daniel Sweeney, leaving him severely injured and permanently disfigured, in Edinburgh in March 2007.
The thug was ordered to serve a minimum detention period of five years and was placed on a rare lifelong restriction order.
The full article contains 1763 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
