KNIVES UP ANTE IN ARGUMENTS

PUBLICATION: The London Free Press
DATE: 2005.01.18
EDITION: Final
SECTION: City & Region
PAGE: B1
BYLINE: KELLY PEDRO, FREE PRESS CRIME REPORTER

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KNIVES UP ANTE IN ARGUMENTS
LONDON POLICE SAY THE EASILY ACCESSIBLE WEAPONS ARE COMING OUT OF
POCKETS IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT.

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The easy accessibility of knives on the street makes them deadly when
emotions run high, London police said following a rash of weekend
knifings.

“Walking downtown with a pocket knife or some other type of knife . . .
is not necessarily a criminal offence,” London police Chief Murray
Faulkner said yesterday.

“But when emotions erupt, people know they have this weapon in their
pocket and they’re quick to use it.”

Latest police statistics show weapons offences, which aren’t broken down
by type, are on the rise, up 13 per cent last year over 2003.

That may be because society is more violent, Faulkner said.

“If you grow up bombarded by violence, it will have an impact,” he said,
referring to TV, movies and video games.

Four people were hurt in three separate knifing attacks over the
weekend.

The most serious was about 3 a.m. Sunday, when a fight broke out in the
parking lot behind Club Phoenix at Richmond Street and Queens Avenue.

A London man, 23, was in critical but stable condition yesterday with
five stab wounds to his chest and arm.

A second city man, also 23, was in serious but stable condition.

Fernando Barrera, 20, of London, is charged with two counts of
aggravated assault.

About midnight Sunday, a Toronto man, 27, was arrested in Club Phoenix
after a Waterloo man, 23, received a shoulder cut when he was stabbed
with a broken bottle.

He was treated and released from hospital.

About the same time, a 17-year-old Londoner was stabbed when teenagers
tried to crash a house party on Trellis Crescent in Westmount. He was in
serious but stable condition yesterday. A 19-year-old man is charged.

Const. Jeff Arbing said it’s not uncommon to find a weapon such as a
pocket knife on someone being arrested.

While not illegal, they often become deadly weapons when emotions run
high.

Almost monthly, police investigate a stabbing.

“It’s a very disturbing trend that is putting public and officer safety
in jeopardy,” said Arbing.

Knives may be the weapon of choice because crimes involving a firearm
come with a minimum sentence judges must impose, he said.

For example, if a person is convicted of robbing a variety store at
gunpoint, they get at least one year in jail for using the firearm on
top of the sentence for the robbery.

But if the robber used a knife in the same circumstances, there is no
minimum sentence for the weapon.

LONDON STABBINGS

- Laura Wilson, 23, was stabbed to death Jan. 9. Her ex-boyfriend has
been charged with first-degree murder.

- Two employees of Jack’s were escorting a man from the club Nov. 16
when he pulled a knife and stabbed them. Corey Shankar, 20, is charged
with several offences, including aggravated assault.

- Bill Smith, 37, died after he was stabbed outside his Clarence Street
apartment Nov. 16. Darwin Woodruff, 19, has been charged with
second-degree murder.

- Matthew Cook, 22, was stabbed to death June 20 outside the Duchess of
Kent Royal Canadian Legion branch during a stag-and-doe dance. Rowhan
Lloyd Mitchell, 29, of Strathroy, is charged with manslaughter.