The unreported truth about teenage murders
By Vlod Barchuk, TCW:
FEAR of Covid and the accompanying lockdowns have done much harm to the country. One possible thin silver lining has been a reduction in urban crime levels around the world, according to a Cambridge University study by as much as a third. This is not really surprising. With fewer people on the streets, the opportunities for robbery and mugging have fallen, and more people staying at home increases the risk of a burglar being disturbed in his work. As alcohol is a major driver of violent behaviour, the closure of pubs and clubs has prevented much of the fighting that follows when their patrons spill out. The Cambridge study concluded that lockdown restrictions ‘choked the opportunism that fuels so much urban crime’.
This made the news that the number of teenagers murdered in London in 2021 was a record – 30 – all the more newsworthy. The 2020 figure was much lower at 19, but it appears that the upward trend evident since 2012 has resumed after a temporary hiatus. There’s no sign that this year will be any better with two teenage murders in London already. It looks as if the effect of Covid fear and lockdowns in 2020 was temporary, with criminals realising that they can ignore restrictions or find ways around them, and thus ‘normality’ has returned.
We know something about the murder victims as most of their names and pictures are in the public domain. However, the mainstream media (including BBC, Evening Standard and Daily Mail) are reluctant to note some obvious points. All of them were male. Nearly all were non-white though it’s difficult to be precise. Links to gangs or drug dealing are not explored. Of the murderers (suspected or confirmed), nothing is said. Some may have been under the influence of drugs or psychosis exacerbated by them, a thought that won’t have occurred to London Mayor Sadiq Khan while planning to decriminalise cannabis.
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