KNIFE crimes are to the UK what gun crimes are to America - a national disgrace.

The utter failure of the government here to take meaningful pro-active measures to put a stop to the pandemic of knife killings that are taking the lives of so many, mostly young, people is lamentable.

We need a Draconian approach to the problem. Make the carrying of a knife, whether or not it is used to commit a crime, punishable with an automatic minimum 2-years behind bars - with no right of appeal or early release.

Where a knife is used to main or kill, the sentence should be an absolute minimum of 10 years in prison, and anyone aiding and abetting the perpetrator (including members of a gang who are present during the attack) should receive a proportional punishment.

Where, as is increasingly the case, the perpetrators are barely into their teens, the parents should also face criminal charges - just as the owners of attack/killer dogs are held responsible for failing to control their ‘pets’.

Failure to address the pandemic of knife crime will result in more and more areas of our cities, towns, and even villages turned into war zones by gangs of totally out-of-control, amoral, sadly in most cases, teenagers.

ROBERT READMAN

Norwich Avenue West, Bournemouth