Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Up to 1,000 people a month are victims of knife crime in London, according to alarming new statistics.
They show that around 400 a month are being injured in attacks — many of them seriously — while others are being threatened. In the first four months of the year, 11 people were murdered in knife attacks. Four teenagers have been stabbed to death so far this year.
The statistics, obtained after a Freedom of Information request, reveal that there were 1,038 victims of knife crime in London in January, of which 410 were injured and four killed. The remainder were threatened with knives.
The figures for February show there was a total of 818 victims, in March there were 993, and in April there were 892 victims. The number injured in attacks reached a peak of 420 in April, the equivalent of 14 people a day.
In total for the first four months, 284 were seriously injured with knives, 413 suffered “moderate” injuries and 870 minor injuries.
The figures come as Mohamed Abdullahi, 20, was stabbed to death in Islington on Saturday in a suspected gang feud.
Lyn Costello, the founder of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: “Although we have seen less homicides through knife crime than in the same period of previous years, the figures for knife crime overall remain astoundingly high. We must continue to do all we can in order to reduce these numbers.”
Camilla Batmanghelidjh, the founder of youth charity Kids Company, also said knife crime levels in London remained very high. “We do not see any signs that the violence among young people on the street is going down.
"I expect the numbers of young people being injured is probably more than these figures show. Most young people do not turn up to medical services once they have been stabbed. Their anxiety is that police will be called and they will be identified.”
She said her charity used metal detecting knife arches to stop young people bringing knives onto their premises but staff found they were hiding weapons outside. “Our staff do a trawl of places outside and we continue to pick up a lot of knives. On the last count we had five in one week.”
Yard insiders say while the number of murders in London is falling, young people are still attacking each other with knives and guns.
Detectives say many lives are being saved because of the skill of surgeons and the speed of getting victims to hospital by ambulance and the London Air Ambulance.
Martin Griffiths, a consultant trauma surgeon from Barts Health NHS Trust, said survival rates of people injured in knife and other attacks had improved since a re-organisation of major trauma centres in London. “If we look at all assaults, including domestic violence, I think the numbers are the same if not more than before.”
He said trusts such as Barts now had trauma centres with surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses who were all specialists in dealing with violent injury.
Scotland Yard said knife crime in general is falling in London and the majority of incidents involved threats to use a knife.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said the number of people in London injured as a result of knives fell 28% between April 2012 and March 2013.
He said: “We have continued to see reductions since April 2013, however, we are not complacent. We are continuing to invest more officers in proactively tackling those who use knives in London. “
Shopkeeper, 64 stabbed in head protecting his wares
Shopkeeper Ashok Patel, pictured top was stabbed repeatedly in the head as he bravely defended his shop from armed thieves last December.
Mr Patel, 64, grabbed a baseball bat to chase off the raiders but when he slipped the thieves pounced on him, using kitchen knives to stab his head, stomach and hand and then left him for dead.
Mr Patel, who has owned the off licence for 13 years, spent two days in hospital recovering after receiving 24 stitches to a deep wound in his head.
He said: “I wanted to save my life and my shop so I shouted at them and took up the baseball bat. I was very scared and they stabbed me in my head and stomach. My head still goes round and round and I can’t move my left arm very well.
“They could have killed me and they wanted to, so I am so lucky.”
Troy Mangal and Ibrahim Jama, both from Holloway, and Yousef Musa, from Canonbury, were last week sentenced to a total of 34 years in jail for the attack.
Mr Patel said: “It’s a horrible thing to happen to anyone. The first time I saw the attack was in the court room and when they showed it to me I was very afraid.”