Exclusive: Police chief calls for tougher sentences for those carrying knives after latest fatal stabbing in Northampton

The chief of Northamptonshire Police is calling for tougher sentences following the tragic fatal stabbings of two teenagers in Northampton so far this year.

In an exclusive interview with Chron and Echo, Northamptonshire Police Chief Constable, Nick Adderley, has addressed the issues of knife crime in the county.

Northampton has had two fatal stabbings in the last two months, the first victim was 16-year-old Fred Shand who died after being stabbed near the Cock Hotel in Harborough Road at about 3.35pm on March 22. The second victim was Kwabena Osei-Poku, previously known as Alfred, who was stabbed on April 23 in New South Bridge Road, Far Cotton, yards away from the University of Northampton’s Waterside campus.

How were you feeling and what were you thinking after hearing of the latest fatal stabbing of a teenager in the town?

The chief said: “I always take it really seriously, of course. I am responsible for the crime and disorder that takes place on the streets and when you have a teenager who is stabbed to death, and particularly in the location where it was (at the university), that is quite alarming.

"There are a number of reasons why we think that attack [on Alfred] took place and we’re working on those things and obviously that will all come out in court in due time.

"The reality is, we’re doing everything we can. I always ask the question, was it predictable? Was it preventable? And we analyse that to the nth degree. So was this [Alfred’s death] predictable? No. Was it [Alfred’s death] preventable? Well if it’s not predictable it makes it difficult to prevent.

"The work around prevention and intervention goes at pace here at Northants Police to make sure we are engaging at every possible level to try and prevent these tragic incidents.”

How is Northants Police tackling knife crime?

He said: “There are a lot of things we’re doing to combat knife crime. Knife crime is not an issue that is going to be solved by the police alone. Already now we’re starting to put together a serious violence reduction team which is going to be headed up by a senior police officer which will bring together all the partnerships to make sure we tackle this.

"Listen, it’s not just about enforcement on the street. Stop and search is quite controversial, but we’re doing more of that. It’s about making sure education in schools is where it needs to be, we have an inspire programme which works in secondary schools. We’ve got all the work that’s going on with the local authority. We’re going to bring all of that together to make sure that we’re all pointing in the right direction.

"The tragic murders of the two young men of recent weeks has put this into stark focus. Northants Police has reduced knife crime by eight per cent in the last two years but, of course, one fatal stabbing and the figures are insignificant. This is about the loss of life. Lots more to do and lots more coming together over the next couple of weeks.”

What would you say to people thinking about carrying a knife on the street?

The chief said: “Don’t carry a knife. This misconception that you will be safer if you carry a knife is completely misconstrued. Do not carry a knife. If you are in fear of your own safety you need to seek support from elsewhere, if that’s from the police, from parents, from schooling or whatever it is.

"I reiterate, the chances of you using that knife to defend yourself are so slim, the chances of that knife being used against you is really high. You can ruin your life in a blink of an eye if you are caught carrying a knife or a bladed article. You will be arrested, and the chances of you then going on to fulfil your ambitions in life would probably be ruined forever.”

Do you think there should there be tougher sentences for carrying a knife?

Mr Adderley said: “I absolutely do, and that’s something we’re pushing hard with the Government. Thankfully, we do not have a firearms issue in Northants [but] I think the sentences should be similar to carrying a firearm if you are caught carrying a knife, particularly banned knives like Rambo knives and other assault knives.

"If you are caught carrying that you are carrying it with one intention, with one likelihood that you are going to use that against somebody else, and for that the sentences should be significantly increased.

"For me, I would start at a maximum of 10 years for carrying. Using the knife, the sentences are significantly higher.”

Residents are worried, can we expect to see more police on the street and more stop and searches?

The chief said: “Absolutely. What we’re going to do is double the number of neighbourhood officers again. We are already reshaping our organisation so that we move from the current number and we’re going to double it, that will be over 200 neighbourhood officers out in the community. What that means is people will see more of their police officers and their PCSOs.

"Seventy per cent of all available time of officers and PCSOs is spent out in the community, we’re going to make sure that’s increased. Every minute that they can spend out they spend out engaging with communities.

"The second thing we’re going to do is really go to town on the prevention and intervention. Again, that’s bringing together a number of agencies to say ‘how do we actually prevent this crime?’. So prevention and intervention is the second area we’re going to work really hard on.”

Do you think there is a direct link between drug dealing and knife crime?

Mr Adderley said: "I will never shy away from reiterating that the majority of crime is linked to drugs, whether that is committing crime, shoplifting, burglary, or whatever it is to fuel your drug habit or whether it’s turf wars.

"I’ve said from minute one, this is a shire that has Metropolitan issues. You have organised criminals coming in from the West Midlands, from London, and that’s why we set up the serious and organised crime team here with surveillance capability and so on.

"A lot of crime is linked to drugs and that’s why we made it a matter of priority, and we’ve had great success, but the reality is every time you take one of these drug dealers off the streets there’s three or four ready to take that space, every time you dismantle an organised crime group – of which we have dismantled 16 in the past 12 months – there is another organised crime group waiting to come in. That’s why we have to be relentless in our pursuit of making sure we deal with organised criminals and drug dealing at every level.”

Is there enough funding made available to Northants Police from central Government?

“The funding is always tight. With any public service, you have a finite amount of money and a finite amount of resources. And I suppose the responsibility I have is trying to make sure areas that matter most to the public and also that matter most in terms of serious harm.

"In terms of financing, the commissioner [Stephen Mold] has done all he can to try and increase the precept. I know that he, and I, are lobbying the Government to make sure Northamptonshire gets its fair share of police funding from central grant, it doesn’t currently and that is well-documented.

"His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary even said that Northamptonshire Police is underfunded, it is, but that is not an excuse to not do better with what we’ve got.

"We will keep lobbying and keep pushing and will continue to do that, and we are optimistic we will get an increased level of funding from central Government some time soon.”