Knee-jerk reaction to knife crime

A SPATE of highly publicised knife murders, many involving teenage victims and perpetrators, has begun to preoccupy both media and politicians. Yesterday, David Cameron suggested anyone caught with a knife should go to prison. It is difficult to know how much of this latest upsurge in knife crime is a matter of heightened awareness or whether politicians merely climbing on the bandwagon?

There is no doubt that knife crime has increased over recent years. Researchers at the Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow found that in a 20-year period to 2003 the incidence of murder with knives in Scotland increased by 164 per cen...