Reece Young, 23, was stabbed to death in Croydon on Tuesday evening. He was attending a vigil for Tai Jordan O’Donnell, 19, himself knifed to death on the same street weeks earlier.
One local resident told the Evening Standard: “We are living in a state of fear. We are frightened for our children.” Another did not send her children to school the following day — they were too traumatised.
Young’s stabbing is the 30th killing investigation launched by the Met this year. Our city is being traumatised but we must never be inured to this senseless violence.
A recent poll for the Standard found that tackling knife crime was the public’s biggest policing priority, being considered a concern of 56 per cent of respondents.
Yet as we report today, knife crime has been at or near record levels for much of Sadiq Khan’s mayoralty.
In the 12 months to the end of March 2020, there were 15,928 knife crimes in the capital, compared with 9,752 for the 12 months to the start of April 2016, the final phase of Boris Johnson’s time in City Hall. This cannot sit well with Khan.
Conservative candidate for mayor Shaun Bailey has criticised Khan for his handling of violent youth crime, calling for 8,000 additional police officers, as well as opening a youth centre in each borough and hiring 4,000 new youth workers.
Khan meanwhile has proposed a further £8million of new council tax funding in additional violence prevention programmes, having included in his achievements the establishment of a Violence Reduction Unit.
Khan is favourite to win re-election in what has progressively become a solidly Labour city. Yet the public are desperate for improvements.
Violent crime was a key issue in the 2016 mayoral election and will be again. This time, however, Khan is running on his own record.
