In this Panorama special we see reporter Raphael Rowe look for answers with regards to the rising number stabbings which occur in the United Kingdom. Rowe speaks with five young men, all of whom are now located in young offender institutions serving sentences for having wounded and even killed using a knife.
Before having been sent to prison they all seemed to have given little consideration to what the consequences of carrying a knife could be. They all claim to have carried these weapons for self protection yet none of these men were being threatened with a knife when they attacked.
From this film we gain great insight into the minds of these young men and why they felt they needed to carry knifes. Even though they all knew carrying a knife could land them in some serious trouble whether that be prison or death they still chose to carry such weapons as they felt the immediate threat of violence which plagued their communities outweighed the consequences of being caught.
34 Stabbed to death, 9000 cautioned (for doing nothing but having a knife where someone else saw it as inappropriate) so including tradesmen etc. it must be hundreds of thousands of people carry knives in the UK. Simple math tells us 34/250,000(+) so carrying a knife is safer than driving a car, smoking, drinking alcohol etc. That’s the message I got from this dramatization. A knife is a tool! Guns, football hooligans, cell phones, pharma companies etc. kill plenty of people too why don’t we demonize them while were at it, sure