Tough on knives

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He is right to be indignant. Now the Crown Prosecution Service has said that in future only in rare cases will individuals receive a caution.

It has told its lawyers that they must take a "robust approach" to bringing cases involving knife possession. As a result it expects there will be more than 500 knife offenders brought to court in the next year.

This is a sensible response to the rising number of injuries and fatalities as a result of knife crime in London, particularly among black youths.

As Shaun Bailey, a youth worker and Parliamentary candidate, pointed out in this paper yesterday, many young men carry a knife ostensibly for their own protection, yet doing so actually adds to their vulnerability. If they know that knife possession is more likely to lead to an appearance in court, they may well think again.

It is not much use increasing sentences for knife crimes if the offenders are not brought to justice in the first place. Sir Ian's instincts are, in this respect, right.