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(Galatians 4:16)

LAND FULL of VIOLENCE:Child murder rate goes up by a third

Almost one in 10 murder victims last year was aged under 16, figures showed yesterday.The spate of inner-city knife and gun killings has helped push the number of murders among children up by a third.The Home Office statistics also disclose that one in 12 victims of gun-related murders was a child. Five of the 59 people shot dead last year were under 16 - there were none the year before.The figures will further call into question ministerial assertions that the streets are safer than ever. In the year to April 2007, there were at least 68 murder victims under 16 years of age, an increase of 31 per cent on the previous year.Of the 734 offences recorded as homicide, nine per cent of the victims were children. Part of the rise was caused by a growing number of infants killed by their parents - 40 victims were aged under five.However, in 26 cases the children were murdered by strangers or their attackers remain unknown.The Home Office figures do not include more than a dozen killings in London since last April.Murders have risen steadily over the years. In 1958, there were 261 murders - by 1990 that had grown to 661.The highest number recorded was 1,047 in 2002/03 - swelled by the serial killer Harold Shipman, a GP from Manchester believed to have murdered more than 200 patients over many years. When Labour took office in 1997, there were 609 murders, representing 11.8 offences per million people.Last year's total of 734 is 13.7 per million - twice the rate 40 years ago.One third of the killings involved a sharp instrument, an increase of 18 per cent on the previous year; and 59 victims were shot dead, compared to 49 in 2005/06, an increase of 20 per cent.More than half the gun victims were aged under 30.David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "These figures reflect the enormous extent of the individual tragedies we are witnessing in our communities."Gun and blade killings have both risen dramatically over the last year."This shows that claims by the Government to be taking action on violent crime are misguided at best." He added: "We need robust and concerted action - cutting red tape to put police back on the streets, decisive steps to curb soaring drug abuse and 24-hour drinking, and strong border controls to stem the flow of drugs and guns into Britain."Among the under-16s shot dead during 2006/2007 was Billy Cox, 15, who was killed in Clapham, south London, in February.Only a few days earlier, Michael Dosunmu, also 15, was shot by two gunmen who broke into his home in Peckham, south-east London.Jesse James, 15, was shot dead in a park in Manchester as he cycled home from a party in September 2006.The latest figures do not include the murder of Rhys Jones, 11, who police believe was killed by a gang member aiming to shoot a rival in Liverpool last August.In the calendar year 2007, there were 25 teenage murders in London, many of which will be recorded in next year's official statistics.Of these 16 were stabbed to death, eight were shot and one was beaten to death.

As in the days of Noah....