Shabana Mahmood admits knife crime 'far too high' as she sidesteps questions on attacker

Shabana Mahmood has admitted knife crime is "far too high" in the UK as she dodged key questions on the alleged Huntingdon attacker.

The Home Secretary faced questions after it emerged Cambridge Constabulary received 999 calls to three separate incidents before a man with a knife began randomly attacking passengers on an East Coast mainline train bound for London.

A man allegedly stormed into a Peterborough barber shop, wielding a knife.

This came around 15 minutes after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed nearby in the town centre. A man returned to the salon the following morning, once again brandishing a large knife.

The horrific attacks on the LNER service between Doncaster and London King's Cross have prompted renewed fears over the UK's ability to tackle knife crime.

Ms Mahmood, responding to a question from Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, said: "I agree... Knife crime is far too high. This Government is impatient to do everything it can to eliminate knife crime. We've set ourselves an ambitious target and we've made some progress, though I agree that there is much, much more to be done."

The Home Secretary added: "This Government will consult on a legal framework so that all police forces across the country can use live facial recognition technology, confident that they will not find themselves defending those decisions in courts in the future."

She added: "I think there is much more that we can do to use new and emerging technology in order to help us tackle this type of criminality."

Ms Mahmood said the "majority" of those who are in possession of a knife receive "reasonably lengthy prison sentences", adding: "When we know more about the circumstances of this particular case, we will know if there are other lessons for us to draw, and other areas of policy for us to consider."

Ms Mahmood said extra police patrols on trains will not become routine.

She said it was an "isolated" attack and British Transport Police's risk assessment of the threat posed on trains has not changed.

Anthony Williams, 32, was charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of possession of a knife and one count of actual bodily harm in connection with the incident.

He was also charged with attempted murder after an alleged knife attack in East London 18 hours earlier.

Speaking in the Commons, Ms Mahmood paid tribute to the actions of passengers, the train crew and emergency workers after the attack as the train passed through Cambridgeshire.

She also sent her thoughts to the victims.

Ms Mahmood said: "I would also like to pay tribute to the breathtaking bravery of those on the train itself, including the heroic acts of the passengers and train crew who intercepted the attacker. I would like to draw particular attention to one member of the onboard crew, who ran towards danger, confronting the attacker for a sustained period of time, and stopped his advance through the train.

"He put himself in harm's way, suffered grievous injuries as a result, and remains in hospital today, in a critical but stable condition.

"On Saturday, he went to work to do his job. Today, he is a hero and forever will be."

Ms Mahmood said Williams was not known to security services or Prevent.

She told MPs: "There is now a live investigation into what happened on Saturday night, and the events that led up to it. I am therefore limited in what I can say today without putting a successful prosecution at risk.

"I am sure that all here agree there must be one priority right now: bringing the person who committed this horrific crime to justice; however, I will share what facts I can."

Police were working on Monday night to confirm if three reported incidents in Peterborough on Friday evening and Saturday morning were tied to the subsequent attacks.

Shadow Home Secretary Mr Philp said the Conservatives would support a national rollout of facial recognition technology.

He asked Ms Mahmood: "Does she agree that more knife crime offenders should go to jail? This is important because when offenders are in jail, they, of course, can't attack the public.

"Does she agree we need to ensure more people who carry knives, especially where they use them to threaten others, are jailed?"

He added: "I really do hope the Home Secretary agrees, and the police minister agrees, that rolling out (facial recognition) technology nationally will have a dramatic impact on improving public safety, and they will certainly have my full support if they choose to do that."

Mr Philp also asked for an update on the development of technology which could "distinguish knives from keys or mobile phones" arguing this "could help police rapidly identify those carrying a knife in a public place".