Eric Hitchmo

I bet there'll be loads more people killed by knives, guns, lawnmovers etc in the UK, same as every year, and the same as in every other country on the planet. Chances are though, me, or anyone else on this forum, won't be. It's quite safe to leave the house. It's like they say at the end of Crimewatch - "don't have nightmares". Posting links to violence on a forum like this is just silly. If it wasn't knife crime it would be some other excuse to claim the UK isn't a good place to live - whatever crusade happends to be popular with the tabloids. It's happens here and everywhere. For every set of figures which shows some type of crime in the Uk is up, you can find others going down, and other countries (Aus included) which have a bigger problem in whatever area. My advice to anyone reading this thread would be to just get on with life and stop looking for reasons to be worried.You're posting this to either justify your own situation, or you're one of these people who won't be happy until everyone is as miserable as you are.

Tableland

Gotta be careful with stats, Eric. Statistically you are more likely to be stabbed to death in Australia, but I bet if you polled people and asked them if they feel safer walking along a street after dark in Adelaide or Manchester, well, we both know what they would say.

My interest in posting the aforementioned post is simply to illustrate an objective fact, because I refuse to ignore objective facts and put my fingers in my ears and shout la la la. Unlike others, I have always found knowing the truth more useful than selecting facts to make myself feel more comfortable with a decision based on emotive factors and poor research.

But each to their own.

backagen

Ooh this is fun! I'd say by the end of the week it would have to be at least another 50.

What do I win if I get it right? A free flick-knife?

backagen

In all seriousness though, I do obviously acknowledge that it's a big problem, of course it is. But it's not unique to Britain.

I really am not at all surprised that this happens though.

It's the obvious result of an incredibly lax justice system, undisciplined kids, high divorce rates, availability of harmful drugs and the tendancy of young people to be attracted to them, and a society that accepts no personal responsibility, but blames everyone else for anything that goes wrong.

Those are the main root causes of the violence,
and until the government (not just in UK but here and USA too) gets serious about addressing them much more effectively, things will continue to degenerate.

That's very sad and quite frightening, but as I said it's no surprise.

Jay Bird

Emma M

Here's one way of looking at it: I would rather take my chances and maybe, by some slim chance, get stabbed (and an even smaller chance that it be fatal) in the UK than get shot over here by some crazed gangster wannabe. At least I would die on home turf.

brits1

What are you coming over to Aus?!!!!! throw in....having to keep paying out for "knocks" on your car, definatetly invest in home security and forget about using public transport unless you don't mind sitting next to some freeks now and again!!!!!

brits1

loads of humits here in Perth......you don't see anyone out after 9.00pm at night!!!...mind you I walk the dog during the day and sometimes don't see a sole for the whole of the walk...safe way to live (if you call it living)...go down to Northbridge or Freo on a night out here (these are the "few" areas where you can have a "pub crawl" in Perth) and you can get mugged, punched or chased with a knife as well.....so what do most people do here to stay safe?...well just buy a crate of beer or a pack of Burbon and Cola (yuck) or a cask of wine.....(maybe all of the above...it's been known) and just drink yourself silly over the weekend at home....even smoke a bit of whacky backy...now I know this does happen...you can ask our neighbours.....they do that most weekends........and they are "white collar workers"....and we live in a very nice area.....as I have said before, each country has it's bad points....yep even Australia.....I have even been chased here with a knife during the day for my bag.....with a threat that "I will slit your throat if you don't give me your bag".....and thats the truth......my friends sons have been stabbed here and the other son "mugged" for his phone and addidas top he was wearing....this happend in Fremantle and Perth on their first nights out this year (the had just arrived from the wirral with their parents to live)....and yes they are lovely lads!!!!! so would we take a chance on living back in the U.K.....you bet as soon as our homes sells were off....without a backward glance!!!!!!!

backagen

Good point. It DOES happen here.

I also have first hand experience of being threatened with a knife, numerous times, IN AUSTRALIA as it happens.

I have never had such experiences in Britain, on the other hand!

Bevm

Not sure why the obsession with cause of death.Dead is dead.

So, (addressed to everyone) how many people died by violence within 20 miles of your home in 2007?

I'll have to research that one before answering myself. Some of you might know as you seem so focussed on it.

Bev

rabsody

Gawd! I consider myself really lucky after reading all these experiences, I've never been threatened with a knife in either Aus or UK. I think I would completely freak out!

Tableland

Yeah, we all have some experience I guess. I have travelled pretty extensively including some fairly unsavoury parts of some of the more dangerous US cities and yet the only places I have ever been properly started on are two (different) market towns in the south of England.

Eric, to update I think we now have seven dead in the last three days, and I'm not sure if the young lad killed over the weekend is included in those stats or not because he was shot in the back rather than stabbed in it.

Let's hope this week we have fewer knife/gun murders than last week, although I wouldn't bet on it.