Concern at number of stabbings on streets of Sheffield

Between March 2018 and April 2019 there were 47 reported stabbings where victims were injured in the city.

The most up to date information available for this financial year show that 34 incidents were recorded in the first six months.

Social justice charity Nacro has produced a report ‘Lives Not Knives’ with contributions from youths in Sheffield.

It reveals that Sheffield children claim knife-carrying is driven by fear and that every young person knows someone who has been a victim of knife crime.

It states that young people have very little to do in their spare time, few positive role models and that knife crime is linked to poverty and a lack of opportunity and aspiration.

Nacro is calling for a focus upon prevention and early intervention and a shift away from prison being used as the answer to knife crime.

Chief Executive, Campbell Robb, said: “What young people across Sheffield are crying out for is to be safe on the streets where they live. What this report shows is that the current approach to sentencing will not deter young people who carry knives out of fear.

“Our students have told us that fear of being attacked leads to the belief that carrying a knife is their only option to protect themselves. The threat of prison does nothing to stop this.”

Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Henderson, of South Yorkshire Police, said: “The impacts of knife crime are truly horrendous and can have life-changing consequences for everyone involved

I want to offer our communities some reassurance of our determination and commitment to confronting this issue and tackling the behaviours that fuel it.

“While strong policing forms part of the response to this problem, enforcement work alone cannot tackle knife crime.“We, as authorities and the community, need to look at a public health approach to tackling knife crime. Everyone has a role to play in this, from our schools and youth groups through to our health professionals and the wider criminal justice services.”