In a bid to help fight knife crime, the charity Crimestoppers is encouraging young people to pass on information about who is carrying knives in their schools, by sending a simple text message to a dedicated anonymous hotline.
Crimestoppers piloted the texting service in London. The pilot, held from August 2008 to April 2009, was hailed a success by both police and young people. The number of pieces of actionable information relating to knife crime received in London trebled from August 2008 – March 2009. The service is now being rolled out nationally. People can pass on information by texting 88551. Texts should include four pieces of information about those carrying knives:
Name and/or nickname
school
year
postcode/area.
Texts are charged at standard network rates. Remember to delete the text from your sent box. The text messages are routed through special software, developed by mBlox, the world's largest mobile transaction network, and Anderson Software, applications specialist for law enforcement, to ensure they remain anonymous when passed onto the police. Crimestoppers cannot trace the mobile number or any other details about the text message sender.
The new service is for information about knife carrying only – for information about all other crimes the public are asked to call the Crimestoppers 24-hour anonymous 0800 555 111 number or complete an anonymous online Giving Information Form. Find out what Crimestoppers is going about knife crime.
Nab Wood School in partnership with WM-Pro, West Yorkshire Police and the i09 Project worked together to produce a music video aimed at tackling gang culture and knife crime within society today. The project was part of a summer school workshop where students and staff worked together in pre production and production of the music video, Cradle 2 Da Grave - this project came first place in the i09 competition! video: Produced by WM-Pro Track: Music written by Rabea Massaad Lyrics written and performed by Ibrar Hussain
Choose A Different Ending is an interactive film that allows you to decide what happens next. You can interact with it, choose what to do and decide how it ends. In Choose A Different Ending you decide whether to live or die. http://www.droptheweapons.org
A performance by US soul singer Alexander O'Neal at a London festival was cancelled at the last minute after a teenage boy was stabbed and 'bottled' at the carnival.
Police were called at 7pm on Saturday night to Bermondsey Carnival in Southwark Park in southeast London, after the teenager was found with leg and facial injuries.
He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The incident led to the main concert being stopped shortly after 8pm just as O'Neal was due on stage.
Several thousand people attended the day-long event.
O'Neal - whose hits include Criticise and Never Knew Love Like This - had reportedly flown in from the US to attend the free event.
The Metropolitan Police said an inquiry was under way.
Ben Kinsella's murderers 'face retribution' during life jail term
The killers, from left: Jade Braithwaite, 18, Juress Kika, 19, and Michael Alleyne, 20
CCTV of Ben Kinseller after her was stabbed eleven times, he collapses off camera
On June 29 2008 sixteen-year-old Ben Kinsella became the seventeenth teen in London to die as a result of violent crime.
Last week, almost a year after his death, Michael Alleyne (18), Juress Kika (19) and Jade Braithwaite (20), were found guilty of murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 19 years.
Ben's sister and former Eastender actress Brooke Kinsella said: "It's good enough but it is little more than Ben lived, so it is not really enough."
Speaking after the verdict Detective Chief Inspector John Macdonald praised the witnesses that came forward and said that Ben's killers were ignorant.
"They have no social abilities whatsoever to interact with people. This was a non-event in a pub and they resorted to violence straight away. Ben ran into three cowards. They were older than him, bigger than him, they were armed with knives. He had no chance at all."
Three men who stabbed the schoolboy Ben Kinsella to death were jailed for life yesterday after being warned that they face retribution in prison for the murder.
Jade Braithwaite, 20, Juress Kika, 19, and Michael Alleyne, 18, have all received letters from prison authorities alerting them that they are marked men.
Each will spend at least 19 years in jail for the murder of the 16-year-old brother of the former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella.
Applause erupted from the public gallery of the Old Bailey as the killers were led down to the cells in handcuffs. Police had to intervene as friends of the defendants clashed with friends of Ben as they shouted out “Bye” and “Enjoy your porridge”.
Ms Kinsella, who played Kelly Taylor in the BBC soap, clapped once but otherwise kept silent with the rest of her family in the well of court.
Speaking outside court after the hearing she said of the 19-year minimum tariff: “It’s just little more than Ben lived, so it really is not good enough.”
Sentencing the killers, Brian Barker QC, the Common Serjeant of London, said: “Ben Kinsella was 16 when he died. Your blind and heartless anger that night defies belief. He had in front of him a lifetime of promise. You have taken all that away from him in a brutal, cowardly and totally unjustified attack.”
“It reflects yet again the futility of carrying and use of knives by some people. Crimes like these generate outrage in all like minded people.”
Earlier, lawyers for the three killers confirmed that they had received letters warning them they may be under threat from members of a notorious crime family.
Nerida Harford-Bell, for Braithwaite, said: “Jade understands he is a marked man. His mother, grandmother and aunt are in process of moving from their addresses to an entirely different area.”
Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, for Alleyne, said: “He has received a letter that will have an impact for more than many years. It is an unusual step but one he is going to take very, very seriously.”
James Nichol, solicitor advocate for Kika, said of his letter: “It is being taken seriously.”
Ben, who wanted to become a graphic designer, was stabbed 11 times after becoming the innocent victim of an argument. He had been celebrating the end of his exams at Shillibeers bar in Holloway, north London, when he was attacked in the early hours of June 29 last year.
After a mass brawl that had not involved Ben, Braithwaite recruited Kika and Alleyne to get revenge for being “disrespected”. They chased the rival group of youths down the street and picked on Ben when he failed to run away.
The straight-A student was kicked to the floor and stabbed eleven times in five seconds as he pleaded: “I’ve not done anything wrong.”
He was the 17th teenager to be murdered in London last year.
Kika was wanted by police for a stabbing and robbery in Islington days earlier but was only tracked down when he was arrested for the murder on June 30.
Alleyne was on licence after being released from an 18 month prison sentence for drug dealing. Braithwaite had served a 12-month sentence for attempted robbery in 2006. He later blamed Alleyne and Kika for the stabbing, sparking ugly scenes in court as the defendants turned on each other.
Kika and Alleyne, both from Holloway, north London, and Braithwaite from Bow, east London, all denied murder.
Stop and search powers allow the police to combat street crime and anti-social behaviour, and prevent more serious crimes.
What happens if I’m stopped and searched?
If you are stopped you’ll first be asked where you’re going and what you’ve been doing. The police may then decide to search you but only if they have a good reason, for example, that you fit the profile of a criminal seen in the area, or they think you’re acting suspiciously.
Here are some facts about stop and search:
the search will take place on the street
if the officer asks you to remove more than your coat and gloves, or anything you wear for religious reasons, they must take you somewhere out of public view
you’ll be asked to turn out your pockets and show the officers the contents of your bag
they can also search your vehicle, even if you aren’t present, but they must leave a notice to say what they’ve done
if you’re carrying something illegal, such as a weapon, or the police believe you’ve committed a crime, you may be arrested
if they don’t find anything, your details will be recorded for monitoring purposes, and you’ll be allowed to go
What information will I need to provide?
You don’t have to give your name, address or date of birth to the police if you’re stopped and searched unless you’re being reported for an offence.
However, it’s advisable that when asked, you describe your ethnic origin. It’s important that you give this information to the officer, as this is how we monitor disproportionate stopping of ethnic minorities and encourage police accountability.
The officer will fill out a form outlining the reason for stopping you, the outcome of the stop and search and their name, and give you a copy. This information won’t be held on file against you unless you’re charged with an offence.
Can I complain about being stopped and searched?
You should not be stopped or searched just because of your age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, the way you dress or because you’ve committed a crime in the past.
If you believe you were stopped and searched unreasonably, or you weren’t treated fairly or with respect, you can complain to:
If you're a teacher or a student, you might want to download the booklet designed for schools and community leaders from the Home Office Police website. Stop and Search Explained: How Police Powers Work in the Community explains more about what you can expect if you're ever stopped and searched, and explains your legal rights, and what the process is all about.
Latest figures from the British Crime Survey (BCS) show that overall crime remains stable, with crime recorded by the police showing a 5% decrease compared with 2007-08.
BCS recorded violent crime remains stable, with police figures showing violence against the person has decreased by 6%.
The BCS figures also show:
no change in domestic burglary
vehicle theft and vandalism remain stable
robberies remain stable
Police figures showed a 1% increase in domestic burglary and a 2% fall in non-domestic burglary. They also show a 10% fall in offences against vehicles and in criminal damage.
The figures show some signs of acquisitive crime increasing, with the BCS showing incidents of theft from the person rising by 25%, and bicycle theft up 22%. However, police recorded figures show a 12% in thefts from the person and no change in bicycle theft.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson described the statistics as ‘encouraging,’ pointing to overall crime falling by 36% since 1997 – a total of six million fewer crimes compared with 12 years ago.
He said, ‘Today’s figures show that the reductions in crime are being maintained and the risk of being a victim is still historically low.
‘Encouragingly, violent crime continues to fall with homicide figures now lower than they have been for a decade and attempted murder also falling. Overall, violent crime with injury is down 7% and there has been a 5% fall in recorded robberies, now at its lowest level since 2002.
'But we are not complacent. As in previous years we see changing patterns of crime and we know that during economic downturns certain crimes face upward pressure, which is why we’ve already taken action to tackle these head-on. Although today’s figures show signs of some acquisitive crimes increasing, the government is determined to keep these crimes down by continued investment in preventative measures, tough, targeted policing and historically high numbers of police officers.
'Of course statistics are only part of the picture and offer no comfort to victims which is why it is encouraging that confidence at a local level is rising with nearly half of people saying they feel the police and local agencies are dealing with antisocial behaviour and crime in their area.'
What is the difference between the BCS and police recorded crime?
Police records are one method of measuring crime rates. However, these statistics alone don’t paint an accurate picture because many crimes are not reported to police.
For the crime types it covers, the BCS provides a more reliable measure of trends in crime as it has a consistent methodology and is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police, recording practice or police activity.
However, each source has different strengths and weaknesses, and together they provide a more comprehensive picture of crime than could be obtained from either series alone.
Crimestoppers piloted the texting service in London. The pilot, held from August 2008 to April 2009, was hailed a success by both police and young people. The number of pieces of actionable information relating to knife crime received in London trebled from August 2008 – March 2009. The service is now being rolled out nationally.
