Alcohol Fuelled Violence in Lancashire

According to statistics from Lancashire Constabulary, alcohol is behind 40% of all crime in Lancashire, a figure which has risen in recent years.

A growing concern amongst politicians and citizens alike is the threat of street violence, fuelled by drinking. A survey conducted by Portman group found that a quarter of all adults in Lancashire claim to have been a victim of alcohol-related street violence.

The latest story to hit our newspapers is that attack of schoolgirl Jessica Knight who was stabbed 20 times in a park whilst walking home from school in Chorley. The accused, Kristofer Beddar, had reportedly drank half a bottle of whisky before the incident took place and has said in court “you can do silly things” after drinking.

Luckily, Jessica survived the attack, but has been left with long term psychological and physical damage.

It isn’t just innocent civilians who are at risk of attack from intoxicated members of the public, but those in the service industry as well. Taxi drivers, hospital and ambulance staff and policemen are amongst those who are suffering abuse, both verbal and physical. Last year 56,000 NHS staff were assaulted and yet less than one in 50 lead to prosecution.

But what is being done to prevent this? A Chorley hospital has embarked on a prevention scheme by joining forces with the local pubwatch organisation to ban drunk patients who attack NHS staff from local pubs. This is aiming to be a deterrent for people and will encourage them to think twice about behaving aggressively toward a member of staff.

A report earlier this year blamed the smoking ban for increased violence on the streets. According to the report, having smokers on the street makes them vulnerable to violence as people go out looking for a fight and will target the nearest available person, in this case, smokers outside pubs and clubs.

It’s not only violence that’s an issue but the nation’s health is at risk too. Alcohol related deaths are on the increase, in recent years, UK figures of alcohol related deaths have increased significantly, particularly amongst males. Between 1991 and 2004, the figure for deaths per 100,000 of the population in men rose from 9.1 to 17.6 (Source Office for National Statistics).

Taking a local slant on this, Blackpool is amongst the worst in the UK for deaths resulting from alcohol consumption, with the 9^th highest rate out of 426 districts in the UK. Blackburn with Darwen, Preston and Fylde were also listed in the top 50 worst areas across the UK (Source Office for National Statistics).

This map shows victims of alcohol fuelled attacks that have occured in Lancashire

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Increased attacks on cabbies in Preston

Preston taxi drivers are calling for more safety measures in place after a large number of attacks in recent months.

Attacks on drivers is nothing new and in the past year, there have been a total of 300 reported attacks on cabbies in Preston, not including what many drivers refer to as ‘just incidents’ which don’t get reported to the police.

Increase in crime

One of the main causes of such attacks is from passengers who have had too much to drink, a problem taxi firms cannot escape from as their peak hours run at times when people are out drinking and don’t have any other form of transport.

Since the 24 hour drinking law was brought about in November 2005, there has been a marked increase in crime at antisocial hours of the day, and cabbies are amongst those to notice the impact it has made.

Private hire cabs suffer the most as they don’t use purpose built vehicles with CCTV cameras fitted and a ‘cage’ which keeps the driver safe behind a glass screen, features commonly used in hackney carriages (black cabs).

Online forums of such as taxiforums.co.uk are screaming complaints of the lack of safety for taxi drivers and the recent attacks that have took place. Attacks range from robbery, knife attacks, beating and threats with guns.

In the last 15 years there have been 49 murders of taxi drivers and 120 serious assaults, not to mention all the attacks that weren’t reported.

“Low priority”

Chairman of the National Taxi Association, Paul Brent, says “The safety of taxi drivers is a low priority to the government and not enough is done to recognise the danger these working men are in.
I would say the taxi service is the most neglected piece of public transport in terms of safety regulations set out.
As far as threats from members of the public who are under the influence, Mr Brent called it a “never ending struggle that seems to be getting worse.”

One member on another forum said “I would reckon that taxi driving anywhere in the world holds many dangers.”

Only in November this year was an Asian taxi driver punched in the face and left with a bloody nose in an incident involving 3 men in Burnley, just days before a New City Taxis cabbie was attacked with a knife in Walton-le-Dale.

At the minute, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of help or strong laws in place to protect the safety of these drivers. The GMB (general worker’s union), however, is setting about a campaign for the government to recognise the danger drivers are in and are calling for –
• government incentives for safety measures through local licensing authorities
• CCTV in vehicles
• proper training for drivers, such as nationally recognised portable NVQs
• for a more sensible sentencing regime
• for the police to record attacks on licensed drivers as a separate category.

Picture source preston city council http://www.preston.gov.uk/Category.asp?cat=746

My map of Preston

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Being Green - the latest trend?

Let's face it, being environmentally friendly is just, like, SO in right now. If I see or hear anymore advice like "Do this pretty obvious minor economical change to your lifestyle and SAVE THE PLANET" I will die. Well, despair at least.

Now, don't get me wrong, of course I advocate recycling and not littering and not wasting food and not leaving lights on in empty rooms and using energy saving bulbs (bills people- think of the bills) hence why this blog is all-things-environmental but there IS a line.

Yes, we use too many plastic bags but shops charging for them? I get the idea behind it but please, how many of us have several 'Bags For Life' knocking around?? Hmmm...hardly 'For Life' if you forget it when you nip to Spar for supplies. I know under my stairs is drowning in a sea of plastic death, and that's even with the collection of variously branded 'I'm a happy, sturdy bag, use me lots!' bags.

Call me a cynic (self confessed) but for me, it all seems a tad little too late. We can all feel smug when we crush our empty bottles of water (oh wait, they're not so hot anymore, its just water packaged in earth destroying plastic, right?) or cans of soup, say, and pop it in our complimentary Preston City Council Recycling Box Of Joy, feeling like we're 'Doing Our Bit' but none of us know where it really ends up.

Ok, I think I'm going off on a bit of a rant here (believe me, there's more to come) so I'll quit while I'm ahead. I want my tea and of course, I'll be recycling any plastic, aluminium, glass or cardboard I use so I can sleep soundly tonight.

^_^

Welcome to my Environment Blog!

Hello all, this is my Green Enthusiast Blog aka my environment blog for my journalism course at the University of Central Lancashire. Focusing on the North West and my local area, Preston, I will be posting articles on issues, events (if any!), opinion and anything else that comes to mind.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Clare