27 May
Thomas Grant, 19, was stabbed to death on a train in Cumbria when he intervened to help a woman. He was studying history and Arabic at St Andrews University in Fife and planned to join the Army when he graduated. A 21-year-old man has been charged with Mr Grant´s murder.
27 May
Colin McInnes, 23, was attacked as he made his way home early morning in Glasgow city centre. Two men aged 25 and 26 have been arrested in connection with his death.
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Fighting knife crime A six week national knife amnesty ended on 30 June. It resulted in some 100,000 knives being handed over to police. Hundreds of special bins were placed outside police stations across the country in order to allow people to anonymously surrender a weapon without being prosecuted. |
Although the number of weapons given up is high, the six-week amnesty did not save the lives of 24 people killed by knives in the UK during the amnesty.
Despite the amnesty the Metropolitan Police recorded over 50 knife attacks in London over the May Bank Holiday weekend alone.
The last major amnesty followed the death of a London head master who was killed outside his school in 1995.
Police have declared the campaign was a great success, but most agree an amnesty alone will not solve the problems related to knife culture.
| "Anything that gets these weapons out of circulation is good; one knife less on the street may result in a life being saved." Sgt Andy Cutler |
He added education on knives is of great importance to youths.
The knives handed over included swords, machetes, meat cleavers, homemade daggers and samurai swords.
Be Safe founder Kevin Everard said knife amnesties are designed to take knives off target groups on the street. Reality however, can be quite different:
The public may feel police operations such as operations Blunt and Shield have more impact on resolving knife crimes as they involve the rapid and random deployment of metal detectors in public places such as stations, schools, etc. with strong police backup.
| Disclaimer: This site is part of a project to explore the problems associated with knife crimes. It aggregates information from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, the BBC and The Scotsman. Their respective rights in any images or information used is hereby acknowledged. |