A knife-wielding attacker threatened a young girl at Gladstone Park in Dollis Hil
Knife crime offences in London hit another record high
Knife crime in London has hit a record-high for the second year in a row, official figures show.
In response to the spiralling figures, campaigners slammed mayor Sir Sadiq Khan as 'not fit for purpose' and accused him of 'undermining the Met Police at any opportunity'.
Former Met cop and knife crime campaigner Norman Brennan, who was 25 when he was stabbed in the chest and nearly murdered by a burglar while on duty, told MailOnline: 'Under Sadiq Khan, London has no-go areas and the streets have become unsafe.'
Home Office data shows more than 16,800 knife crimes were recorded by the Metropolitan and City of London police forces last year, a 16 per cent rise on the previous record of over 14,500 a year earlier.
The highest number of knife crimes occurred in several central London neighbourhoods, focused around the high-end areas of Mayfair, Fitzrovia, Soho, St James and the Strand.
The most up-to-date figures are from 2023 as the Met stopped publishing data which breaks down weapons offences to this granular level of geographic detail early last year. MailOnline has asked if the force intends to start publishing this breakdown again.
The number one area for crime was the neighbourhood – technically a 'lower layer super output area' (LSOA) named Westminster 013G – which features Regent Street, New Bond Street and a small section of Oxford Street.
This Westminster suburb saw saw 141 reported knife crimes in 2023, according to Met Police data. A near-600 per cent rise on 2012, where 21 knife-related offences were recorded.
Outside of central London, other hotspots include Shoreditch, Hackney, Stratford International Station and Westfield shopping centre and the centre of Croydon.
Mr Brennan, who is campaigning for mandatory five-year sentences for knife possession, said the figures show 'the streets have become lawless'.
He added: 'Many people think they can carry a knife and face no consequences.
'The courts offer derisory sentences. For carrying a knife you get the same sentence as a parking fine.
'That's how weak our criminal justice system is and all our criminal justice system does is make excuses.'
Referencing the fatal stabbing of father-of-two Blue Stevens, 26, outside the £1,650-a-night 5-star Park Tower Hotel and Casino, he said that his family and loved ones will now see 'time freeze forever'.
Police are still continuing their manhunt, and have been pursuing multiple lines of enquiry, including whether the murder was a botched Rolex watch robbery.
Mr Stevens, who is the grandson of a champion boxer, had just been for a romantic dinner with his partner when the masked assailant struck.
Blue Stevens, 26, died after being knifed outside the £1,650-a-night 5-star Park Tower Hotel and Casino
Murdered by a Rolex ripper in broad daylight
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The stabbing took
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The murder came hours after the mayor promised a police blitz on crime in the capital, including tackling knife crime and robberies.
Mr Brennan blames the rise in knife crime in the massive reduction of the stop and search powers in the last decade-and-a-half.
PCs in London stopped four times fewer people in 2023 as they did in 2009 – from nearly 790,000 to 180,000 – in the same period, knife crime has risen around 40 per cent.
Patrick Green, CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust, said that stop and search was an 'important police tactic and tool the police need to do their job effectively'.
Mr Green said: 'It's very disappointing to see that knife crime is going in the wrong direction in the capital.'
The trust he heads is named after Ben Kinsella, who was stabbed to death in a brutal attack in Islington in 2008.
On the way home from a night out with his friends to celebrate their GCSEs, Ben was chased and murdered by a group of older teenagers, entirely unprovoked.
Ben was the seventeenth teenager to be murdered that year. He was 16 years old.
Mr Green added: 'Seventeen years after Ben's murder it's disappointing to see we've failed to address many of the key drivers that influence knife crime.'
The campaigner added that knife crime has been 'glamourised and normalised', and that young people have become 'desensitised' to it because of social media.
He said that youngsters are 'terrified' of knives, with a recent survey showing 60 per cent were worried or anxious about the violent epidemic, and one-quarter think that carrying a knife is the best way to protect yourself.
He also laid the blame at the gutting of police numbers by 20,000 under the coalition.
A knife-wielding attacker was caught on camera threatening a young girl in Gladstone park, north-west London at the end of June.
The hooded perpetrator was filmed running up to the girl and lunging the large kitchen knife just inches away from her face.
The hooded perpetrator ran up to the girl and brazenly lunged the huge kitchen knife at her
Last week, the Met told MailOnline: 'On Monday, 30 June at 22:03hrs police attended Gladstone Park, Brent, having been made aware of a video on social media of a woman with a knife.
'Officers saw no one who matched the description of the woman in the video. No weapons were found and no arrests were made.'
A Met Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'Tackling knife crime is at the heart of our determination to protect Londoners.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14889885/london-no-neighbourhoods-highest-knife-crime-offences-sadiq-khan-mayor.html
A trio dressed in tracksuits and baclavas as they surround a man victim at Pennyfields Park
One of the men was seen walking away carrying an axe in his right hand
The three attackers make their escape following the assault which took place in broad daylight
Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman had been celebrating a birthday at Fryent Country Park
The sisters' killer Danyal Hussein (pictured) was jailed at the Old Bailey for a minimum of 35 years for savagely murdering them as part of a Satanic blood pact
At school a girl concealed this Swiss Army style knife in her cargo trousers. She used the knife to stab assistant headteacher Fiona Elias, additional needs teacher Liz Hokpin and another pupil.
Elianne Andam (pictured) was stabbed to death
Hassan Sentamu (pictured) was convicted of her murder by a jury following Elianne's death
Daniel Anjorin was killed in a sword rampage in Hainault
Rene Graham, aged 15, was gunned down in Ladbroke Grove
A masked killer who murdered a rival
Robert Zeqaj, 20, Konstantinos Baltasis, 23, and Fatjon Nezaj, 30, were members of a county lines drug gang
Insurance broker Martin Cosser (right) has become an anti-knife crime campaigner after his son Charlie (left) was stabbed to death at a party
Yura Varybus, 17, was found guilty of Charlie's murder and possession of a knife
Elijah Henry-Gooding, 27, was jailed for over two years in south-west London
Stab-proof vests are being advertised to teenagers and youths on social media
In a video, filmed in Birmingham, a group offers the vests for sale for £50, saying they can be delivered across the UK.
In one video a young male is seen being confronted by two other youths before running off to collect a stab-proof vest
In a video advertising the vests, two youths are seen chasing another youth into a car park
The advert says the stab-proof vests cost £50, with postal orders 'straight to your door'
Two men, armed with machetes attack one another outside a fried chicken shop
Sword-wielding men having a machete fight in the middle of a London street
Hard-hitting adverts
The stab proof vest promises to fit children aged 11 to 18 and the description says children are able to 'wear it in or out of school.' Pictured is a model in the campaign
Schoolchildren run through the streets for safety after a knife attack at a birthday party
A gang of 50 youths crashed a party inside a school hall and stabbed two teenagers
Scenes from outside the school where children were spotted fleeing
More than 50 youths ran into the Primary School's hall, where a 16th birthday party was being hosted
This teenager was stabbed in front of horrified passengers on a bus
The teenager (pictured) was an aspiring gangster rapper named online as 'Grippa'
It came less than four months after the death of another teenager - Daejaun Campbell, 15 (pictured) - who was also fatally stabbed
An image from the scene after the teen was stabbed to death on a bus
The youngster was an aspiring musician, who filmed videos under the street name 'Grippa'
Tributes have poured in for the young musician, Kelyan, named online as 'Grippa' with devastated friends on social media saying he was 'taken too soon'
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