My View From the Streets of the War On Knife Crime

Summary

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IT'S hard not to come away depressed when you talk, as I did recently, to teenage Londoners serving prison sentences for knife crime. They seem very tough. Indeed, the governor of the young offenders' institution said they made inmates from Bristol, for example, look like children.

But for all their tough talk, their immaturity quickly comes through. So, too, did their limited horizons. One lad told me that everyone where he lived was involved in drugs or other criminal behaviour including benefit fraud. Nor did they see any way out, even if they wanted one. As one of them said: "It's hopeless. Once you've been inside, no one is going to employ you anyway."

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My View From the Streets of the War On Knife Crime

Crime was the only way they saw to get the money, lifestyle and respect they craved. Indeed, one prison governor told me that some inmates took up educational...

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