Harsher sentences are needed to combat knife crime, Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell has argued. 

New figures have revealed that in 2016 Gardaí seized 1,203 knives but last year that number had surged to 2,146. 

The Dublin Fingal TD believes that high visibility policing is “in and of itself not a solution” and that the Government needs to send a strong message to those who carry knives. 

“I am unfortunately thinking in particular of teenage boys,” Deputy Farrell said. 

“[They] undoubtedly will be quite high on the list of offenders [and] the message should be sent to them that if they are caught, they will face significant consequences and that those consequences may include a prison sentence. 

“That is something I will be pushing hard for.” 

A knife in the Netherlands. Pro Shots Photo Agency/SIPA USA/PA Images

Legislation

Earlier this week, interim Justice Minister Simon Harris said he planned to bring legislation forward to increase sentences for those assault frontline workers. 

“We believe there are certain offences in the country where I think there’s such a level of societal revulsion that we need to actually change the laws to have harsher sentences,” he told The Hard Shoulder.

“What I’m thinking about particularly is assaults on frontline workers - including the Gardaí, paramedics, people working in our hospitals, our nurses and doctors. 

“We’re proposing that between now and the summer recess, we amend the law to increase the maximum sentence for assault on a frontline worker to move that assault from a seven year sentence… to 12 years.” 

The measure is one of 140 recommendations for reform recently published by the Department of Justice.

Main image: A man holding a knife.