Force called to 9,000 knife crimes in just one year

Police cadets are driving a new anti-violence campaign aimed at alerting the young and warning millions of Londoners as Britain’s largest force attended more than 9,000 knife crimes in the past year.

Some 1,623 victims under the age of 25 — including 866 teenagers — were stabbed, according to the data released by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

Twelve teenagers were knifed to death and 291 people were seriously injured in the 12 months from April 1 last year, the MPS confirmed.

Bank holiday weekend brought another stabbing fatality following an attack in an alleyway near Camden High Street in the early hours of Sunday (May 29).

The latest knife victim joined Rukevwe Tadafe, 21, who lost his life in an attack earlier this month in Lewisham town centre and 17-year-old Myron Yarde — stabbed to death in New Cross, south-east London, on April 4.

During the most recent operation to tackle knife crime, the MPS made 439 arrests, 82 of which were for possession of a knife or an offensive weapon. A total of 194 knives and offensive weapons were seized by officers during the seven-day operation from April 25.

The 9,000 knife crimes from April 2015 to April 2016 amount to 25 a day on average.

The MPS figures have been released as part of an online campaign by police cadets to encourage Londoners to pledge their support to stop knife crime using the hashtag #ChooseALifeNotAKnife.

Striking posters and a video highlighting the impact of knife crime were produced by the cadets from Redbridge and the MPS’ Youth Council.

Sixteen-year-old police cadet Olivia, who appears in the posters, explained why she got involved in the campaign.

“For young people it can be quite scary for them to log onto social media and see that there has been yet another victim of a stabbing or that someone has been killed just down the road,” she said.

“I was shocked when I saw the numbers. A lot of people carry knives for self-defence and think they are safer carrying one. It’s not something that they should have to turn to protect themselves.”

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, of the MPS’ Youth Council, said: “This project came about as they, like many Londoners, have had enough of violence.

“They wanted to create some energy and through informed discussion discourage people from carrying knives.”

He added: “All they ask is, for every young person to start having a discussion about how we stop the needless violence and tragic deaths of young people.

“If this campaign stops one person from carrying a knife it will have been a success.”

The ‘Choose a life, not a knife’ strategy, with the accompanying hard-hitting video, comes as the city’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, met with MPS Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Mr Khan stressed: “It is vital that we work with young Londoners through schools and youth clubs to prevent them from carrying knives and joining gangs.

“We also need intelligence-led stop and search alongside neighbourhood policing, whilst communities must feel confident about working with the police.”

He said he had already spoken to Sir Bernard about the issue and he had agreed it was a priority.

The film included interviews with Ian Levy, the father of 16-year-old schoolboy Robert Levy who was stabbed to death trying to stop a fight in Hackney in 2004, and Thomas Konig, a doctor with London’s Air Ambulance service.

Dr Konig, who is also a trauma and vascular surgeon in the British Army, described how 30 per cent of all incidents they attended were due to knife crime.

He said: “We are seeing people being stabbed in the heart almost every week. We have had to up our game and we have to do open heart surgery on the streets of London to try and save people’s lives.

“That is hand to hand combat, that belongs in war, that does not belong on the streets of London.”

The anti-knife crime campaign is running in tandem with a new MPS initiative by Sir Bernard as new figures show a 19 per cent increase in firearms discharges since 2013/14.

Operation Viper will laun