Victims' families blast Khan over crime

AS MAYOR FINDS EXTRA CASH TO TACKLE GANGS, PARENTS SAY HE'S 'LOSING CONTROL' OF THE STREETS

- Anthony France

THE families of young people killed in London today accused Sadiq Khan of “completely losing control” of the capital’s streets after a 20 per cent rise in knife and gun crime.

Jasna Badzak, whose son Sven was stabbed to death as he returned from a shopping trip to Waitrose in Kilburn, believes “criminals rule” the capital under the Mayor, who is seeking a historic third term this week.

Julius Cools, father of 14-year-old Jermaine who died in a Croydon machete attack, said suspects were emboldened because they were “getting away with it time after time”.

The Office for National Statistics said that 14,626 knife offences were recorded by police in the capital last year, some 2,481 more than 2022 — an average 40 blade crimes each day. There was also a big leap in gun crimes with 1,208 during 2023, up by more than 200 on the 1,010 recorded a year earlier.

Figures also show there has been a 38 per cent increase in knife offences since Mr Khan took office eight years ago.

Former Tory activist Mrs Badzak, 52, is bedridden due to the stress caused by 22-year-old aspiring lawyer Sven’s killing in a case of mistaken identity in February 2021. She told the Standard: “Knife crime is completely out of control because of Sadiq Khan. More and more young men are dying and will continue to be murdered. Sven was innocently buying orange juice and a bagel, then attacked on his way home.

“All the culprits in Sven’s killing were known criminals who should have been in jail for carrying knives but they weren’t. And these men are not alone — scores of them are free to roam London’s streets to kill because Khan undermines police use of stop-and-search. Criminals rule London.”