Eradicating ‘This Dreadful Knife Problem’: Legislative and Judicial Initiatives against Knife Possession
| Author | Nigel Stone |
| Date | 01 August 2015 |
| Published date | 01 August 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1473225415582865 |
| Subject Matter | Legal Commentary |
Youth Justice
2015, Vol. 15(2) 182 –194
© The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1473225415582865
yjj.sagepub.com
Legal Commentary
Eradicating ‘This Dreadful Knife
Problem’: Legislative and Judicial
Initiatives against Knife Possession
Nigel Stone
On a Friday evening in late February 2015, three adolescents were attacked as they cycled
along a busy North London street, a 15-year-old being fatally stabbed, and their cycles
stolen. Subsequently, three young males, the youngest aged 17, were arrested for murder
and robbery.1 The ensuing national press coverage fuelled demands for further and better
measures to address knife crime. This familiar narrative can be followed in the context of
England and Wales via published sources, including Eades et al. (2007) and House of
Commons (2009). For perspectives in other jurisdictions, see Bartels (2011a, 2011b)
(Australia) and Foster (2013) (Scotland). Particular concern has been raised in respect of
young people’s apparent attraction and access to knives as weapons, a social challenge
that can be addressed through various avenues, including supply regulation and restric-
tion, educational and health initiatives, role model influence and modification to blade
design. Inevitably perhaps, solutions are primarily sought through the refinement and
sterner application of the criminal law.
Identification of knife use as an aggravating factor in crimes of violence is now very
familiar, for example, in the statutory framework for determining the minimum term to be
served for the purposes of punishment for murder.2 But what of a widened, more shallow-
end approach, through sanctioning the simple possession of such a weapon or potential
weapon? And how does such an approach fit with the principles of youth justice? This
Commentary seeks to review recent developments.
England and Wales: Evolving Statutory Provision 1953–2012
The Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) 1953 s.1 prohibited the possession in any public
place of an offensive weapon without lawful authority or excuse (‘offensive weapon’
Corresponding author:
Nigel Stone, School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Elizabeth Fry Building, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
Email: n.stone@uea.ac.uk
582865YJJ0010.1177/1473225415582865Youth JusticeStone
research-article2015
To continue reading
Request your trial