The father of a 22-year-old man stabbed to death in south London has called stop and search “essential” to reducing knife crime, as new figures show knife-enabled crime fell by nearly 15% across the capital.
Cliff Marcus’s son, Leo, was killed in a botched mugging attempt in Woolwich in 2019. Mr Marcus said he thinks about Leo every day and urged the government to introduce a minimum sentence for carrying a knife and to stick to it.
A father’s plea for tougher action
Speaking about young people carrying knives, Mr Marcus said: “They haven’t even opened their eyes. They don’t know what life’s about. Stop and search is essential. It’s essential to stopping these young boys from carrying knives. If you carry it, you’re going to use it. It’s not for protection.”
His comments come as the Metropolitan Police highlighted the effectiveness of the tactic, which last year led to the recovery of about 3,800 weapons and 27,800 drugs seizures across London.
Met Police defends stop and search
The Met said stop and search “remains one of the most effective tools available to officers to prevent violence and detect crime”.
In August, the force carried out a three-day surge operation focused on tackling serious youth violence, with a “particular emphasis on identifying and disrupting the carrying of knives and other weapons”. The operation involved 114 stop and searches and resulted in 14 arrests – including six for possession of an offensive weapon, one of which was for possessing a Taser.
Officers targeted areas across Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley, using crime data and intelligence to deploy at locations where the risk of violence and weapon carrying was highest.
Weapons recovered and arrests made
A separate nine-day deployment in July involving 317 stop and searches resulted in 30 arrests and the recovery of 16 weapons. Bodyworn footage released by the force showed officers uncovering large knives from men who were searched.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Sanderson said social media allowed “easy access” to weaponry such as knives. He told the Press Association: “It’s an effective tool that reduces the amount of weapons on the street and every weapon we take off the street is another life saved.”
Sanderson said officers were focused on “educating” young people on why they were stopping and searching them. “A good stop and search is about informing them of the reasons why they’ve been stopped. Educating them about the area, educating them about the impact that knife crime can have on them and their families and the local area,” he added.
Knife crime figures show decline
The Metropolitan Police said “knife-enabled crime fell by 14.9% in 2025/26 compared with the previous year” across London, including a 21% reduction in knife-enabled robbery and an 8.4% reduction in offences where a knife was used to cause injury.
