Judge Says Knife Crime "Out Of Control"

One of the country's top criminal judges has said knife crime is now "out of control" with a record number of manslaughter and fatal stabbing incidents being heard in Irish courts.

Mr Justice Paul Carney, one of Ireland's most experienced criminal court judges, said: "These scenarios must now account for dozens of deaths every year. Fatal stabbings are now out of control.

"The Registrar of the Central Criminal Court has just informed me that cases coming into the court have doubled overnight and that even after that a steady pattern of growth is projected for the future.”

Mr Justice Carney delivered his warning in a keynote lecture on victims and the judicial process. He said sentences had been handed out to reflect the public's concern over fatal knife crime but the Court of Criminal Appeal had subsequently slashed many of these sentences.

During the speech in Cork, Judge Carney added that some sentencing guidelines were designed for an earlier, less violent and substance-addicted era.

(DW)