A TEESSIDE MP and police chief have backed a mother's calls for tougher sentences for knife crime reoffenders.
Theresa Cave has warned more needs to be done to tackle knife crime and gang violence, nearly two decades on from her son’s murder.
Chris Cave was stabbed to death in Redcar in June 2003, and since then his mother, has fought tirelessly alongside her other son Tom to deter young people from carrying knives through the Chris Cave Foundation.
READ MORE: Redcar mum's 'disgust' at prison sentences for knife reoffenders
Now, Jacob Young, Conservative MP for Redcar, has backed her calls for tougher sentences. He said: "I agree with Theresa. Until the message is sent, loud and clear, that knife crime will land you with a hefty prison sentence the problem will persist.
"I am all for strengthening the sentences for offenders and for throwing the book at re-offenders.
“It is important that the judiciary remains independent of political influence but no right minded person can help but be disgusted when sentences aren’t handed out to offenders who so willfully endanger life.
"There needs to be a clear, unavoidable deterrent to prevent the entire UK from descending into a spiral of unaccountable knife crime.
“This is literally a matter of life and death and our courts need to reflect that."
Steve Turner, Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner, added: "This is simply not acceptable. I'm not interested in hearing sob stories,
"If you're convicted of knife crime as a repeat offender, you should be behind bars. It's that simple.
"There's no point in our officers arresting offenders and the CPS constructing a case for prosecution if the courts are just going to turn those same offenders back out onto the streets.
"The law is clear - adults already convicted of the crime face a minimum six-month jail term - but apparently we have 61 cases in which a repeat offender was not sent straight to prison."
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