Mayor Urged to Act on Wandsworth's Knife Crime Epidemic
Leonie Cooper says something needs to be done to stop 'such senseless killing'
Local London Assembly Member, Leonie Cooper AM, has written to Sadiq Khan urging him to take swift action over the recent surge in knife crime in the borough of Wandsworth.
Following a week of four fatal stabbings across the capital two of which were in the London Borough of Wandsworth, she told the Mayor of London, “There is need for swift action to reverse the rising trend of knife crime in Wandsworth and London as a whole.”
Leonie Cooper
The first stabbing this week in the borough took place in the early hours of Sunday 23 April 2017 in Ingrave Street where a 17-year-old boy was attacked by a group of masked assailants. The latest was on Tuesday 25 April 2017 when a 24-year-old man was stabbed, this time on Melody Road in the early evening.
Both incidents come after Malachi Brookes, 21 years old, was stabbed last month in what has been described as a “brutal attack” and virtually coincided with the anniversary of the murder of 20-year-old Lewis Elwin on Penwortham Road, Tooting, a case which remains unsolved.
In Wandsworth there has been a 19% rise in knife crime in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16.
In her letter Ms Cooper urged the Mayor to address these incidents in his upcoming knife crime strategy.
She wrote, ““All our thoughts are with the recently bereaved families.
“The rise in knife crime is utterly appalling and such senseless killing in Wandsworth must stop. This is going to take every section of the community – not least families, schools, and the police – coming together to get to the root of the problem and stop the killing.
“We are fully behind the Police in solving these crimes. I urge anyone who witnessed or was involved in these event’s to speak with the Police immediately.”
April 27, 2017