Trauma Doctor Reveals Shocking Reason Behind Increase In Stabbing Deaths

13 July 2017, 09:32 | Updated: 13 July 2017, 10:16

A doctor at London's main trauma centre has told LBC that a rise in more vicious weapons is behind the increase in stabbing deaths in London

A total of 27 people have been killed in the past three months alone in the capital - an average of two per week.

Martin Griffiths, a Consultant at the Royal London Hospital's Major Trauma Centre, told LBC he attacks have become more vicious.

He says the rise in deaths is down to a new frenzied style of attack with a longer blade.

He told LBC: "The injury pattern now is very different. We used to see a single stab wound to an 18/19-year-old - a routine injury.

"But now we see multiple stab wounds - up to 10 stab wounds - and younger victims and perpetrators. It's not unusual to see 12- or 13-year-olds stabbing or being stabbed.

"What's happening in the recent past is even more concerning. We've always been used to seeing knives and screwdrivers.

"But we're now seeing more heavy-duty weapons like machetes, choppers and samurai swords being used on a routine basis.

"And we're seeing more victims who don't even make it off the streets, having sustained injuries that made it look like they had their chest opened. It's really quite severe amounts of trauma being meted out on people in London nowadays.

"So as I see it, there's an increase in the number, there's an increase in the severity. And an increase in the nature of the violence as well - it's much more communal, it's not one person stabbing one person, it's now three or four people stabbing one or two people, using knives, bottles, kicks, fists, feet and they are younger - much, much younger."