MPs support proposals for tougher sentencing in response to Enfield MP’s campaign
David Burrowes and Nick de Bois met Turkish-speaking community representatives last year
Nick de Bois has won a key battle to introduce mandatory prison sentences for people caught carrying a knife more than once.
The House of Commons supported the Enfield North MP’s proposals for a minimum six-month jail term for any adult with a second conviction for carrying a knife.
His plans had been opposed by the Liberal Democrats, who were defeated by 404 votes to 53 after Conservative and Labour MPs supported the amendment to the Criminal Courts and Justice Bill. It now moves on to the House of Lords for a final reading.
Mr de Bois and Enfield Southgate MP David Burrowes had told representatives from the Turkish-speaking communities last year that more needed to be done to tackle gang culture across London.
Turkish and Kurdish gangs are known to operate throughout the capital and 15-year-old Abdullah Ercan spent weeks in hospital after being stabbed in Leyton last September.
During the Bill’s report stage in the Commons, Mr De Bois had said: “to kill someone with a knife you first have to carry a knife, and I believe our courts are dispensing sentences for possession of a knife in thousands of cases that are quite simply treated by offenders as little more than an occupational hazard.
“With nearly 8,000 last year being fines and cautions, I would suggest that in some cases that fuels knife crime and does nothing to halt knife crime.”
After the debate, he added: “This does not mark the end of knife crime in the country, but it is a significant step towards stamping out the knife culture. It has shown that local views can make a massive difference.”
Mr de Bois and Enfield Southgate MP David Burrowes had met representatives from the Turkish-speaking communities last year to discuss the growing gang problem.
They said at the time that the vast majority of Turkish and Kurdish people in London were working hard to earn a decent living, and it should “not be inevitable” that young people end up on the streets.
