DELIVERY riders have become moving targets for knife attackers in a city where violent crime is rapidly spiraling out of control.Last year a crime gang was sentenced to a total of 116 years after abducting a Cardiff man in what was described as one of the UK's most complicated kidnap investigationsOne worker in Cardiff, south Wales, was attacked by a gang of three knife-carrying teenagers as he collected a takeaway meal from a restaurant and repeatedly stabbed.
The numbers include 11 attempted murders involving a knife, 261 threats to kill offences involving a knife, 998 assaults with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm offences involving a knife, 33 offences involving a knife in terms of rape and sexual assault, and three homicides. “Knife crime just wasn’t a thing in Wales back then, or at least that was the perception,” Ged tells The Sun. “But since Adrian died, it has become a massive problem here.“The tripling of knife crime across Wales over the last 10 years makes me immensely sad. It is such a depressing statistic.
Dyfed-Powys recorded an increase from 40 to 163 offences, Gwent an increase from 78 to 376 , North Wales from 135 to 316 , South Wales saw an increase from 345 to 719 . "Either way, they need their knives to protect their stash. If they crack down on drugs, they’ll reduce knife crime.“But it’s also become a must-have for young men in other situations. I had to work hard at encouraging my teenage daughter to socialise after lockdown and now when she goes out she says a lot of lads carry knives everywhere.
He said: “When they started closing the youth clubs, the kids suddenly had nowhere to go and no adults supervising them. She said: “I live at street level and I see it all. I see teenage boys hiding their knives down their trousers. They’re ready to use them when they have to. Ged said: "It certainly hasn't helped the situation. If these young people have nowhere else to go and no purpose, they've got nothing to latch on to, so they turn to crime and county lines gangs.
"Others carry them because they’re scared that if they don’t, they won’t be able to protect themselves against someone who is carrying a blade. They don’t want to be vulnerable. How messed up is that? “Thankfully, levels of those offences remain lower here than many other parts of the UK, and, generally, South Wales is a safe place to live, to work, and to be.