MORE than 500 people have backed Enfield Independent calls for a change in the law to tackle knife crime.

Enfield North MP Nick de Bois launched a petition calling for mandatory six-month prison sentences for anyone using a knife to threaten or endanger life to be extended to teenagers.

Current Government proposals would limit the punishment to those over the age of 18, but we have joined forces with Mr de Bois to push for the laws to tackle the scourge of knife crime among young people.

This year in Enfield, two teenage boys and a young man have been stabbed to death on our streets, and we believe urgent action is needed to reverse the knife crime culture on our streets.

Mr de Bois, speaking as the petition topped 500 signatures, said: “To have 500 signatures is great, and I’d love to get another 500.

“This is such an important issue which has so much support in Enfield. I hope that even more people will demonstrate that support by signing the petition.”

The campaign – Don't Carry, Don't Kill – has won the backing of local politicians, police chiefs, and Enfield mother Yvonne Lawson, whose son Godwin was murdered in Stamford Hill last year.

Mr de Bois has already met with justice secretary Ken Clarke to discuss the amendment he has tabled, and he has also met with a coalition of anti-knife crime campaign groups including Solve This Ongoing Problem, Anti-Knife UK, the Nelson Williams Foundation, TAGS and GANGLINE.

You can sign the petition by clicking here.