Ministry rejects calls to get tough on knife crime

The Justice Ministry is rejecting calls from the judiciary for Parliament to crack down on youths carrying knives in public, despite a spate of stabbings.

Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft and a High Court judge have raised concerns about young people carrying knives in public, saying the practice has the potential for tragedy when confrontations occur.

Shannon David Boyes-Warren, 17, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison, with a 15 1/2-year non-parole period, for the knife killing of Afghan immigrant and taxi driver Abdulrahman Ikhtiari in Christchurch.

Britain recently cracked down on the sale of knives to young people. It is illegal to sell knives to anyone aged under 18 in Britain, while in New South Wales the age for purchase of a knife is 16. Britain has increased the penalty for carrying a knife in public from two years jail to four.

Justice Ministry figures show 194 people aged between 14 and 16 were apprehended by police for carrying a knife in 2008, up from 177 a decade ago. In total, 955 people were caught with knives in 2008.

In a report on knife crime released yesterday, the ministry said that it did not believe young people should be banned from buying knives, and nor should the penalty for carrying one in public be increased from its current maximum of three months jail or a fine of $2000.

It said the British ban on young people carrying knives had had "little or no impact on public safety" and that "there are a wide variety of knives which are used for legitimate purposes, even by young people".

The ministry suggested a voluntary accord be developed with retailers, local authorties and police in areas where knife crime was a problem.

It suggested increasing the penalty for the more serious crime of possession of an offensive weapon from two years jail to three, although only 20 per cent of all prosecutions under this category were for carrying knives.

Labour's law and order spokesman, Waimakariri MP Clayton Cosgrove, said any concerns over a ban on youths buying knives could be handled by police discretion.

"There's a difference between Johnny coming home from fishing with a knife and walking around the streets of Christchurch at 3am with a short blade," he said.

Canterbury University criminologist Greg Newbold said tougher penalties would probably not have an effect on youths carrying knives. He said there was an established principle of criminology that likelihood of detection was a greater deterrent than tougher penalties.

"The only really effective deterrent would be to allow the police to randomly search people, and that would be an infringement of people's civil liberties," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News