UK not active enough in cracking down on acid attacks: Expert
The British government has failed to tackle the rising number of acid attacks in the country, as authorities impose lenient penalties for attackers, an expert says.
UK authorities could make it more difficult for attackers to use acid and corrosive substances in acts of violence, Rodney Shakespeare, an academic and expert on political and social issues from London, said Thursday during a phone interview with Press TV.
“You cannot allow the culture to go on of gangs using acid attacks, we have to stamp it out, the government has not done enough to do this,” said Shakespeare.
The expert compared the rise of acid attacks in the UK to the surging race riots in Notting Hill area in London in 1958, when courts introduced harsh punishments for many involved in the riots. He said the shock created by the intensified crackdown helped end the riots.
Shakespeare said authorities could have prevented a surge in the number of acid attacks by adopting a similar strategy and by implementing harsher punishments and criminalizing such attacks.
“Up-to-life imprisonment and a new offense,” said Shakespeare, elaborating, “The government is not moving quick enough to do what it should do which is just to move to stamp it out immediately.”
The number of acid attacks reported across the UK has increased dramatically over the past few years.
Some 720 such attacks were recorded in 2016 in the country, a figure which showed a three-time increase compared to 2012.
Official figures put the number of acid attacks at around 1,500 since 2011 with around a third of them only happening in the capital London last year.
Many have blamed the government inaction and lax rules controlling the use of corrosive substances as a main reason for the increased number of acid attacks.
Reports on Thursday suggested that police forces across the UK were proposing new measures to tackle the issue, including enhanced stop and search powers and providing officers with decontamination kits to help them treat the victims of acid attacks.
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