Huge rise in stab wound admissions
Alison Bennett
Friday, November 14, 2008
The number of under 16s admitted to hospital with serious stab wounds has shot up by 89 per cent over the past five years, according to thinktank the Centre for Social Justice.
The thinktank, founded by former Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith, is carrying out research on street gangs. The findings will be published next January.
Researchers looked into the UK's street gang culture and discovered that six per cent of 10- to 19-year-olds were in gangs.
They found that gang members are three times as likely to carry a weapon than those not connected to gangs.
Speaking at crime-reduction charity Nacro's conference, Back from the Brink: Turning Young People Away From Crime, Duncan-Smith said: "The gang lifestyle replaces the family group they never had."
He added that gangmembers' attitudes to women were a particular concern. "Girls are traded to pay off debts," he said. "Many of the girls come from dysfunctional families and have no sense of their own worth."
