Longer Sentences
Knife crime has been on the mind of the new Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan TD, for a number of years now. When part of the previous coalition Government as a backbencher, his vocal criticism of perceived Government failures to act quickly and assertively enough on knife offences was more reminiscent of an Opposition spokesperson.
In 2023, shortly after the Nottingham attacks, the Minister had an op-ed published calling for stronger sanctions to act as a deterrent to the possession and use of knives. He claimed that:
“the benefits of strengthening our laws and establishing a stronger deterrent is that it will send a very clear message that carrying a knife is unacceptable and will have serious consequences if you are apprehended.”
Furthermore, he called for the enactment of legislation—which he introduced to the Dáil in 2021—doubling the maximum penalty for possession of a knife with intent to cause harm to ten years. An odd element of the op-ed was the inclusion of UK statistics on homicides with knives as the primary weapon. It was probably enough to state that Ireland has no available recorded statistics on knife homicides. But maybe UK-based knife crime was a pressing issue on the mind of constituents in Dublin Bay South.
Again, in 2024, O’Callaghan sought to have his legislative amendment to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act brought “out of cold storage.” Later that year, former Minister for Justice Helen McEntee signed a commencement order to increase the maximum sentences for four knife-related crimes from five to seven years. These longer sentences were explained to the public as a “preventative measure” to prevent further offences and harm.
Social Defence
Consistent in the political discourse and legislative changes surrounding knife offences in Ireland has been the rationale of deterrence through longer sentences. Traditionally, theories of punishment are divided into two main groupings – retribution and social defence. Deterrence sits within social defence, ostensibly serving an individual prevention function and a general prevention function. In other words, the Ministers of Justice conceive that the potential of harsher punishment will affect individual decision-making due to the potential longer sentences and “send a message to society” to improve other people’s tendency to be law-abiding.
In Prison on Trial, Thomas Mathiesen sets about the task of debunking all the rationales for punishment, specifically the prison. As a sociologist, his approach is strongly empirical, drawing on published research to consider the efficacy of stated aims. Yet, when Mathiesen weighs up deterrence (and general prevention), he can’t avoid being drawn into questions of morality. He poses the question:
“What is the moral basis for punishing someone, perhaps hard, in order to prevent entirely different people from committing equivalent acts, when those we punish to a large extent are poor and highly stigmatised people in need of assistance rather than punishment?”
Knife offences, particularly possession, are heavily coded by age, class, and ethnicity. Specifically groups of young men already marginalised from society and the formal economy, a relatively voiceless cohort. Mathiesen concluded that “an attempt is made to discipline the many poor by sanctioning some of them.” If knife possession is indeed on an upward trajectory, then little is being proposed by the Minister to understand why. What are the contributing factors? What assistance can be offered to the boys and young men who may often carry knifes defensively?
What Now?
Despite the headline figure of knife seizures almost doubling in seven years, with approximately 2,000 seized in 2022, there are other explanations offered by An Garda Síochána to possibly account for some of this: better recording by Garda and a new property management system to itemise seized weapons. From 2020 to 2023, the number of charges issued for knife possession under the legislation has decreased, by almost a half.
However, knife offences tend to be very public and emotive. Perceptions of deterioriating community safety can be readily exploited. Recent stabbings on South Anne St – leading to the death of a young man seeking asylum — and in Stoneybatter village on a quiet weekend have prompted politicians to ensure that the public are reassured through longer sentences and swift “justice.”
But even this approach does not seem to be politically satisfactory now. Coupled with the longer sentences introduced in the last months of the previous Government, Minister O’Callaghan wants to expand the “stop and search” powers of An Garda Síochána. Potentially widening the net and bringing more people before the courts to receive longer sentences at a time of severe prison overcrowding is an interesting decision. Despite the unproven efficacy and questionable morality of deterrence measures being clear, small numbers of the poor and marginalised will always be sacrificed at the altar of public opinion and political gain.
