Take out a knife and you risk jail, Shropshire judge warns young people
Young people in Shropshire were today warned: “If you take a knife out and use it you have to go to prison.”
Crown court judge Anthony Lowe spoke out amid increasing concern over the use of blades in street fights in Shropshire.
It comes amid a number of knife-related attacks in the county. An air ambulance was called after an 18-year-old was stabbed in the middle of the afternoon in Brookside, Telford, on Friday.
And police have an appealed for information after a man was attacked near Cleobury Mortimer, suffering a slash wound to his arm as he was set on by four men.
Judge Lowe spoke of his alarm at the increasing use of knives. He says young people are arming themselves almost as part of their daily routine.
He spoke at Shrewsbury Crown Court as he jailed 22-year-old Felix Sherwood, who stabbed a man during a street argument in Ketley, Telford.
Sentencing him to 12 months behind bars, he said: “If you take a knife and use it you have to go to prison. If anybody thinks it is appropriate to go around arming themselves with a knife they are wrong.
“These people are crossing a line. I don’t know where it has come from but it seems to be part of a culture where knives are being used. This did not use to happen.”
West Mercia Police detectives have put out at least 15 witness appeals following stabbings in the Shropshire region this year alone.
Many have happened during daylight hours, on streets busy with commuters or children going to and from school. The trend follows that in the West Midlands, where it was revealed this week that there are 55 knife crimes reported every week.
New Year’s Day was marked by an early-hours knife attack in Shrewsbury in which four people were injured. Five were sentenced for the fracas, which was featured on the BBC documentary Ambulance.
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What does the Police and Crime Commissioner say?
Any victim of knife crime is “one too many” according to the county’s crime commissioner, who today said he is confident police are tackling the issue.
John Campion, Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, said there are a number of causes of knife crime, particularly drug use and dealing, but that the key to preventing an increase is education – particularly of young men.
He said:”You are never going to police your way out of it. You are going to have to educate and point out to young people and primarily young men who carry a knife, that it has consequences.”
There have been a number appeals relating to incidents of knife crime in Shropshire over recent months, with several incidents taking place in broad daylight during the afternoon.
Figures earlier this year revealed there had been an eight per cent increase on possession of weapon offences in West Mercia from the end of 2016 to the end of 2017.
However, police have released more detailed statistics which show a year-on-year decrease of 17 per cent for knife crimes – excluding possession and homicide – in Shropshire, and a five per cent decrease in Telford & Wrekin. In total the past 12 months have seen 75 of the crimes in Shropshire, and 110 in Telford & Wrekin.
Mr Campion spoke about the success of discos for youngsters in Shrewsbury and the opportunity for police to talk to those attending about the issue of knife crime.
He said: “It’s about engaging to make them understand that it is not cool, it has consequences, and if you do it, you are likely to get caught. It is about education.”
The commissioner also raised the killing of 16-year-old Michael Warham in Meole Brace, Shrewsbury, in 2016. A 20-year-old, Declan Graves, was jailed for life for the crime.
Mr Campion said: “We saw in Meole Brace in Shrewsbury what can happen when these things spill out on to the street and that young man was tragically killed. What I am reassured about it West Mercia give it absolutely the highest priority. They are putting the resources around to tackle it and I as commissioner am providing resources to do that.
“Could we do more with more? Of course, but I am confident we are giving it the right attention and we are making headway. There are not many knife related crimes that go undetected, which shows they do get the right attention from the force.”
