August 19, 2008	Tuesday	Sha’aban 16, 1429

LONDON, Aug 18: Police have arrested 2,500 people and stopped and searched a total of 55,000 during a massive clampdown on knife crime prompted by a series of high-profile murders, the Home Office said on Monday.

In all, 1,600 knives have been seized since the government’s Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) was launched on June 5.

The crackdown came after a number of teenagers were killed, often stabbed to death, on streets across Britain.

It has seen police using tough powers to stop and search teenagers without needing to have reasonable suspicion.

The scale of the problem was highlighted with two more deaths this weekend.

In the early hours of Saturday, 16-year-old Conor Black was stabbed to death in the Harpurhey district of Manchester, while Nilanthan Murddi, 17, became the 23rd teenager to die violently in London this year after he was knifed in Croydon.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the two deaths showed why the TKAP was so important.

“I want to reinforce our commitment to tackling knives and getting them off our streets,” she said. Later on Monday the England football team is also due to give its backing to the scheme, urging youngsters not to carry weapons.

Official figures last month showed that there were 22,151 serious offences involving knives across England and Wales in the year up to 2008. Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced at the launch of the programme that prosecutors should get tough on young people found carrying weapons, with a presumption to prosecute those aged 16 or 17 rather than to let them off with a caution.

Smith said in London alone, prosecutions for possession of a bladed weapon or knife had increased by 150 per cent since April compared with the same period in 2007. As part of the programme, officers have also carried out home visits or sent letters to parents of those suspected of carrying knives.

Last month Smith was accused of an embarrassing U-turn over what appeared to be proposals to take those caught with knives to hospital to see stabbing victims. Just 24 hours after the idea was mooted, Smith told parliament there was no such plan.—Reuters