A Labour MP has suggested that young people who use social media to “incite violence,” should be “banned” from such online platforms, to help address the knife crime epidemic that’s spiralling out of control on London’s streets.
Sarah Jones, Labour MP for Croydon Central, has told parliament that harsher jail sentences were “simply not working,” as she asked the government to look at the option of banning young offenders from social media if they used it to incite violence.
Jones said: “The proportion of people receiving a custodial sentence for knife possession has risen from 40 percent in 2010 to almost 70 percent today and yet in the last five years knife crime has been on a sustained and shocking increase, suggesting that harsher sentences are simply not the answer.
“Will the Attorney General look at two things, one some creative alternatives to prison such as electronic tagging or banning young people from social media if they’re using it to incite violence.
“Secondly, more ways to reduce reoffending through education and rehabilitation to keep young people out of the prison system.”
Solicitor General Robert Buckland told MPs in the commons that the government had made knife crime a “national priority”. He added: “I think it is right that we have approached the issue of possession in a more serious way but I take on board her points about causation.”
It comes after a former superintendent for the London Metropolitan Police accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of failing on crime prevention in the capital, which he says has unfortunately led to “young people dying on the street.”
Current crime figures illustrate a worrying upward trend in certain offences being committed. The number of robberies has risen significantly, by 22 percent, in the 12 months to July, while knife crime has increased by 12 percent, during the same period. This year alone has seen Scotland Yard log more than 1,299 knife attacks, according to the Press Association. Violent crime has gone up by five percent.
This year has seen more than 100 homicide investigations. The latest police inquiry was launched on Monday, after a 22-year-old-man, named locally as Ismail Tanrikulu, was found shot dead in a Tottenham cemetery.
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