This Is Guernsey

By Joel de Woolfson

PEOPLE must have a good reason if they want to carry a knife, says Home minister Geoff Mahy. A new law will make it illegal for anyone under 18 to buy one and police will have more powers to stop and search anyone suspected of carrying a blade.

The Guernsey Press first revealed the planned crackdown on knives in May and Home will ask the States to accept its recommendations at the end of this month.

Deputy Mahy said: ‘If the police suspect that someone is carrying a knife for no good reason, they have the power to search them. But if you have a good reason to carry a knife, then that is OK.

‘For instance, if a young person is going fishing he can carry a fishing knife. He does not have to have someone over 18 with him, he just has to have an over-18 with him when he buys that knife.’

Anyone can at the moment go into a shop and buy a knife without showing ID and the new law, along with preventing that, will also stop the marketing of blades in a way that suggests they are suitable for combat or stimulate or encourage violent behaviour. ‘We do not want combat knives being sold or marketed to under-18s in Guernsey,’ Deputy Mahy said.

‘Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said this week that it is unacceptable for people to be walking the streets carrying knives for no purpose other than as a weapon.

‘What we have got to do is to make sure a knife culture does not develop in Guernsey and this is a proactive move to avoid that.’

In London, 19 teenagers have been killed this year, three-quarters of them stabbed.

It is just under two years since Guernsey’s highest-profile knife incident when teenager Craig Rouget murdered James Dean in the High Street.

Chris Dean, the victim’s father, backed the new law yesterday.

‘I would just like to say that my family and I welcome any changes in the law that highlight the dangers of knife crime,’ he said.

‘Although crimes of this nature are relatively few in the island, who is to say that in a few years’ time the trend  might not follow that of the UK. If this law change makes young people think before purchasing or picking up a knife, the violent use of which could potentially change their life and the lives of many others, then my family backs it wholeheartedly.’

Police chief George Le Page said he was very appreciative of the Home Department’s support in helping officers combat knife crime.

‘The whole thrust of this is to seek to bring a degree of responsibility to the sale and purchase of knives and the manner in which they are displayed for sale.

‘It’s not designed to curb legitimate sporting activities such as fishing,’ he said.

‘We are not overrun by a knife culture, but we are seeking to minimise any potential risks to the community.’

Article posted on 12th July, 2008 - 9.30am