Daily News Summary
Wednesday, 2nd July 2008
Main Stories
Youth violence
The problem of youth violence particularly knives and how to deal with the issue dominates all the papers today.
`I fear for my children'
In her role as chair of the street weapons commission for Channel Four, Cherie Blair gave evidence to a Home Affairs Select Committee yesterday. She criticised the British Crime Survey for not currently including under 16s and so failing to reflect the `reality' that younger people are carrying knives and using them, which the commission had found. She also called for a `more visible police force' to tackle youth knife crime. The article quotes, Enver Solomon, deputy director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies: "What the official numbers are failing to pick up is that these crimes are affecting heavily victimised sections of communities within poor areas where they have little confidence in the criminal justice agencies and, therefore, are less likely to report these offences when they have a disproportionate share of them." The article also refers to research carried out for the C4 commission by CCJS which includes figures indicating a 30% rise in all A&E admissions for assault with a sharp instrument over the past ten years. The report can be downloaded here.
Ind1-2 and all other papers.
`Gang life is replacing family life, says woman police chief'
The Times leads with a speech Chief Constable Barbara Wilding gave in May as part of CCJS' 2007/2008 new developments in criminal justice series. She suggests rather than enforcement, tackling youth violence should focus on the `complex social and economic causes that underlie criminal behaviour' and that the criminal justice system can only provide a short-term, temporary solution to such issues. A transcript of her speech is available here.
The Times also highlights CCJS's research for the C4 street weapon commission and the findings of Professor John Pitts's study on youth gangs, including that young people commonly join gangs as they provides the only opportunity for status and `a decent wage', and that young people are likely to stay with a gangs due to fear of reprisals. Times1, 6-7
Rally for knife victim, 16
Hundreds of teenagers marched through North London yesterday after the murder of 16 year old Ben Kinsella in a knife related incident. The marchers called for an end to `knife culture'. Ind2 , Times7 and all papers.
`Call for rethink on knife thugs who will be let off with a fine'
Tony McNulty, who also gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee yesterday, suggested the Sentencing Guidelines Council should rethink its advice to have fines as the lowest of a range of sentences for knife offences. DTel1
Other Stories
`Asylum-seekers put at risk by law, warns top judge'
Lord Justice Sedley has claimed the government is threatening the independence of the judiciary by imposing a rule that forces them to dismiss an asylum seeker's story if they used a false passport to leave their country. Asylum campaigning groups claim many refugees may have been sent back to face further persecution because of the rule. Ind4
`Beat bobby may vanish within 10 years, says chief'
... and be replaced by police community support officers, fears Chief Constable Roger Baker of Essex Police. DTel11, DExp1,5, DMail32 This sparks calls from several columnists to increase police on the streets; `It's time for police to rid streets of mob rule' says Sue Carroll,
Mirror17. `Why the police must take back control of Britain's streets' Gary Mason, DExp12. And `Forces of law and order must heed public anger' says Daily Express editorial12
`Sporting chance'
Asks whether sports-based initiatives aimed at tackling social exclusion work. GdnSoc7
Columns, editorials, letters
`Get them in court before they stab someone'
Alice Miles suggests how to tackle teenage knife crime. Times22
`We need the courage to fight poverty'
Series of letter in the Guardian on ending poverty in the UK. Gdn33
`Local jails for young offenders is a good idea'
Eric Allison in GdnSoc4
`Don't rush to alter the law on witnesses'
Says a letter in the Independent. Ind30 and `evidence without fear' defends the right for witness anonymity. Times25
`Tough justice is needed to deal with knife thugs'
A letter in the Daily Express calls for greater minimum sentences for knife offences. DExp34
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These newspaper summaries are drawn up by staff at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. They are not intended to be comprehensive, or wholly uniform in their approach. Instead, they reflect our individual and collective perspectives on the day's coverage, including our judgements in terms of relevance to the Centre's concerns. On occasion, they also reflect the inevitable time constraints within which we work.
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