CT: You criticised the Government and said it has "buried its collective head in the sand" over these recent teenage killings. The Prime Minister has denied that they reflect a wider malaise in society. Should we be alarmed by these recent killings?
AC: They are inevitable. Anyone on the ground in urban areas has been aware of the growing knife or, as they call it round here, 'blade' culture, among young people such that fairly normal young people find themselves carrying blades just in self defence. They never plan to use it or intend to use it. But it is a growing thing under the surface.
It is a similar problem with the gun culture, which is much newer of course, but is growing, especially among black boys. It's been growing under the surface. And we are seeing that come out now and people are using them. It is almost inevitable. And what just irritates me is when government ministers say this is an isolated event. They've got their heads in the sand, they are out of touch with reality. It's almost inevitable.
We can't anticipate there will be any change but it will just grow and grow until something gets done about it. And people are becoming increasingly desperate about it - and the fact that the Government has no solutions. They can try and put some more money behind it and put some more coppers on the street. I'm not critical of police, they do a good job. But generally the police turn up after the event to pick up the bodies and try and detect the perpetrators.
CT: So for the people living where these attacks are taking place, these incidents are not a surprise?
AC: No, it's no surprise at all. I have a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy. They go out on the streets but they are weary about what is going on out there. They are well aware that many youngsters out there are carrying knives and some of them have guns. It's just a fact of life. It doesn't stop them going out but they are very aware of it.
And in many of the schools in the area the kids go off in a gang. They aren't gang kids but they go off in groups when they leave school because they know after school gangs hang out there. So they also become a gang themselves.
It is self-perpetuating. It's a vicious circle and some non-knife youngsters will start carrying knives. They don't want to but that's what they do in self-defence. And then they themselves are carrying knives and they have joined the culture. It is just going on, it's a vicious circle. So for the Government to say they are isolated incidents is just simply spin, trying to deny reality.
CT: Do you think the Government understands that the young people carrying the knives don't want to carry these knives?
