After another stabbing, London Mayor Boris Johnson warns: DON'T get involved if you see trouble

The risk from violent crime is now so high that people should walk away if they see someone else in trouble - in case they end up losing their own life.

That was the depressing warning yesterday from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

He said he would tell his own children to 'look after themselves first' rather than help a victim in distress.

The comments follow the knife murder of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella after he tried to break up an argument outside a North London bar at the weekend.

In another example of violent, broken Britain, a former soldier died yesterday after being attacked on a bus by thugs he had asked to stop swearing.

Father-of-three Stan Dixon, 60, politely asked them to stop using bad language in front of his partner.

To avoid trouble, the couple decided to get off early.

But as the bus doors opened, two men pushed Mr Dixon violently to the ground, leaving him with massive head injuries.

Mr Johnson's warning is a dramatic change from his stance last year - when he told citizens to 'take a risk' and tackle thugs, saying the chances of being stabbed were 'microscopic'.

Since then, there has been been a horrifying death toll of innocent people simply trying to stop violence.

One high-profile victim was Harry Potter actor Robert Knox, 18, stabbed to death outside a bar in Sidcup, South London, in May as he tried to protect his younger brother.

Mr Johnson, who lives a few streets from where16-year-old Ben Kinsella was attacked, revealed what one 'very nice ex-jailbird' had told him - 'If you see a fight in the street, don't risk it because someone might have a knife.'

The mayor added: 'I'm afraid that may sound like a lack of public spirit if someone is being badly attacked. But if I was giving advice to my kids and there was a bar brawl in Islington, it would be to look after themselves.

'Everybody is shocked by the level of violence we are seeing, particularly towards young people, and we must all work as hard as we can to reverse this dreadful trend.'

The mayor spoke as Scotland Yard chief Sir Ian Blair revealed that more than 1,200 people had been arrested and 528 knives seized in a major operation launched six weeks ago.

Family and friends of Ben Kinsella, who was knifed to death on Sunday, marched to the scene of his murder in protest earlier this week

Nearly 27,000 youngsters had been stopped and searched.

Sir Ian said 95 per cent of those arrested are now being charged, up from 80 per cent when the operation started.

He warned young people: 'My message is "don't carry a knife" because if you do, you're probably going to end up in prison.'

Mr Johnson urged parents, relatives and friends to 'shop' youths who carry knives to the police.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith claimed yesterday that knife crime was no worse than before, despite the spate of shocking youth murders.

Speaking on GMTV, she said: 'Knife crime, although we are very worried about it, is no more serious than it has been previously.'

But hospitals yesterday reported a massive upsurge in child stab victims admitted to accident and emergency, particularly among the under-16 age group.

The figures were revealed by the Daily Mail on Saturday but released officially yesterday.

In the youngest age group, the number of children seeking treatment for stab wounds rose by 88 per cent, from 95 in 2002-3 to 179 in 2006-7, the latest year for which figures are available.

Among 16 to 18-year-olds, there was been a 75 per cent growth, from 429 to 752.

The number of adults attending hospital with stab wounds rose by 27 per cent over the same period, from 3,745 to 4,786.

LibDem spokesman Chris Huhne said of the hospital figures: 'These appalling figures show that the Government's strategy for tackling teenage knife crime is failing abjectly.

'Ministers claim crime is falling, but these figures show serious attacks that require hospital admission are up.

'They cut through all the problems with the crime reported to the police and the lack of information about teenagers in the British Crime Survey.'

Last month, a Government adviser warned that Britain was becoming a 'walk on by' society.

In a report ordered by Downing Street, Louise Casey said people were terrified they would either be attacked themselves or face arrest.

She said the change in attitudes - blamed on a loss of trust in the police - could let crime 'strangle whole neighbourhoods'.