£500,000 to target knife culture

Published on Wednesday 4 March 2009 18:31

AN INITIATIVE aimed at stopping young people in Scotland from carrying knives was announced yesterday.

The 500,000 "No Knives Better Lives" campaign was unveiled at a youth conference organised by the Scottish Government at Murrayfield, Edinburgh.

It came against a background of calls for automatic prison sentences for people caught carrying knives in public, led by John Muir, of Greenock, whose son Damian was murdered just over 18 months ago.

The Scottish Government has resisted pleas for a "Damian's Law", and Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, controversially sent his deputy to a January conference to discuss a petition from Mr Muir, so he could attend engagements in Canada.

Some of the 500,000 announced yesterday by Mr MacAskill will be used to develop new products and promotional materials for the campaign, and young people will be given the message in schools, via the internet and at conferences. The justice secretary said: "To change Scotland's culture of violence, we need to educate young people and help them understand the consequences of carrying a knife.

"We also need to listen to what young people have to say, speak to them about what can help, and act on it."

Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, the head of the Violence Reduction Unit, also stressed the importance of listening to youngsters.

Sam Kerr, who chairs the Scottish Youth Parliament, said portraying young people as knife-wielding thugs was only going to make things worse. "That's why we're delighted that the Scottish Government is taking this issue seriously," he said.