TEENAGERS AND young people make up half of knife crime offenders, it has been revealed.
New figures released from the Metropolitan Police show that of the knife crime offences in London, 41 per cent are carried out by young people aged between 15 and 19 years old, The Independent has reported.
Offenders in some cases are as young as 10, with eight per cent of those caught by police in relation to a knife crime offence aged between 10 and 14.
The news comes after a recent investigation by the BBC found that shops are illegally selling knives to children.
In the BBC’s undercover probe, a 16-year-old was filmed as he attempted to buy knives in stores in Kent and East Sussex. Five out of the 10 shops the boy visited sold him a knife. It is illegal to sell anyone under 18 years old a knife in England.
Some stores apply age-restricted sales policies to knives, which can involve asking for age identification if the customer looks under 21 or 25.
In a bid to tackle to increase of knife crime in the capital, the government has unveiled a number of new measures.
Last week, home secretary Sajid Javid announced plans to introduce knife crime prevention orders, which would be applicable to anyone aged 12 or over who was suspected of being involved in knife crime.
Suspects, who would not need to be caught with a knife, could be banned from using social media and subject to curfews under the legislation which is part of the Offensive Weapons Bill.
The proposals have been criticised by The Police Federation, which says that there are not enough resources to monitor social media activity of those subject to such orders, and campaigners who argue the intervention would unfairly criminalise young people.
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