Clause 25 - Penalties etc. for offence under s.24
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
3:30 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
It appears that I am in the happy position of being a moderate between two extremes, but there is nothing extreme about my hon. Friend the Member for Brent, South (Ms Butler). She takes the matter extremely seriously and has an excellent record of campaigning on these issues. She has contributed significantly to the reduction in gun crime in her area, and has been campaigning for an increase in the mandatory minimum sentence for some time. I hope that after my explanation she will understand why we have pitched the mandatory sentence at five years, but I understand that there are strong arguments and feelings that the sentence should be higher. I have no doubt that people will continue to campaign for that.
Let me deal first with the amendments about knives. We have genuinely tried to propose sentences that are proportionate to sentences for existing offences. The penalty for having a knife is a maximum of four years’ imprisonment. At the moment, the maximum penalty for possession of a knife or blade weapon in a public place without reasonable excuse is two years’ imprisonment. We have set the maximum for that offence for knives at the higher end of the scale.
Amendment No. 299 would increase that to 10 years’ imprisonment. That would be out of step with current sentencing policies and would be disproportionate. We must ensure that we position the penalty correctly, and I believe that we are probably right. I do not seek to minimise the effect of knife crime. Indeed, provisions later in the Bill will help strengthen the power to deal with knife crime. My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, West (Kevin Brennan) mentioned a dreadful case that happened a few days ago in his constituency of an elderly pensioner being stabbed to death. We have seen an increase in knife crime.
The courts have a range of sentences for grievous bodily harm, murder, manslaughter, assault occasioning actual bodily harm—whether with guns, knives or any other weapon. Many serious and violent crimes can bring a life sentence, and rightly so. We are talking about mandatory sentences for possession of dangerous weapons.
That brings me to amendment No. 204, which would remove the mandatory minimum sentence of five years where a prohibited firearm is involved. I cannot believe that the hon. Members for Hornsey and Wood Green and for Huntingdon should seek to remove the mandatory sentence. I am shocked. The hon. Lady spoke of justice. Justice is not for the offender only; many feel that the criminal justice system is weighted far too heavily in favour of the offender and that the victim is not at the heart of our criminal justice system. Many of our reforms ensure that victims and witnesses feel that the system is on their side.