Clause 25 - Penalties etc. for offence under s.24
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
3:15 pm
Lynne Featherstone (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Hornsey and Wood Green, Liberal Democrat)
I rise to speak to amendments Nos. 299 and 151. Amendment No. 299 suggests in clause 25 on line 39 of page 26, changing,
“imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years”
to “not exceeding 10 years”. The amendment tests the Government’s will involving the differential value that they place between murder by gun and murder by knife. There is more equality between those two dangerous weapons than the sentencing reflects. I wanted to highlight that point, because the subsection mentions knives and bladed weapons, and in my constituency knife crime is as much an issue as gun crime. We should like to see the sentencing for knife crimes increased.
I wonder sometimes whether knife crime carries less weight because we are familiar with knives and they seem to be less serious and dangerous. I am sure that that is not the case and we must be tougher. My hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Mr. Oaten), asking the Home Secretary an oral question the other day, said:
“The Home Secretary knows that the current sentence for carrying a gun in public is seven years but the maximum sentence for doing the same with a knife is only two years. Given that both are weapons and can kill, will the Home Secretary consider increasing the maximum sentence for carrying a knife as part of his proposals?”
The Home Secretary, to his credit, answered that he would
“be pleased to consider proposals to that effect when we debate the Bill that was mentioned in the Gracious Speech and examine specific measures.”
That is this Bill. The Home Secretary continued:
“A knife is not the same as a gun but the hon. Gentleman is entirely correct to say that we need to compare the two and ascertain whether they should be brought more in line.”—[Official Report, 23 May 2005; Vol. 434, c. 400.]
I support my hon. Friend’s question and I hope that the Government will address it, because they do not address it fully in the Bill.