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Demand for tougher sentences
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A SERVING police officer believes Richard Whelan's death could have been avoided if there were tougher sentences for people who carry knives.
Norman Brennan has set up a charity to rid the capital of blades and launched the Knives Destroy Lives Campaign earlier this year along with the relatives of murder victims.
He wants to see automatic jail sentences handed out to anyone caught with the weapon in public to stop people thinking carrying a blade is acceptable.
A survey of 14,000 secondary school pupils found nearly one in four 16-year-olds (24 per cent) admitted to carrying a knife or other weapon.
And nearly one in five (19 per cent) of those questioned by the Bridge House Trust in 2002 said they had used one.
Mr Brennan said: "These facts should wake the government and judiciary up.
"Most young people say they carry knives for self-defence but others have them as a fashion accessory or to carry out criminal activity. It is not acceptable.
"No-one has the right to have a knife in a public place unless it is for your trade but even then it should be properly tucked away."
The Knives Destroy Lives campaign has been calling for anyone caught carrying a blade more than three inches long to get an automatic five year jail sentence.
It also wants anyone over 18 caught with a knife less than three inches to get a six-month jail sentence, or three months for a juvenile.
Knife killings are three times more frequent than fatal shootings and a MORI survey revealed two out of three victims of knife attacks do not even report the crime.
Mr Brennan added: "Every day of the week there is someone being stabbed to death in this country. It's not until we bring in mandatory sentences for carrying a knife that people will know the Government and judiciary are serious about this.
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