Brian Paddick Voice of Experience at Islington Commission

12.00.00am GMT Tue 12th Feb 2008

This month Islington played host to London's mayoral candidates, who were quizzed by Islington teenagers at a special meeting of the council's Commission on Young People and Safety. An audience of more than 200 people came to St Mary's Church in Upper Street to question the would-be Mayors and to voice their own opinions.

Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Paddick was there, along with Boris Johnson for the Conservatives and Green candidate Sian Berry. The Labour party sent Ken Duvall, leader of the Metropolitan Police Authority, as their representative.

The candidates all noted with concern that the age profile for being both a victim of crime and a perpetrator is getting younger and younger, and gave short speeches on how they would tackle the problem.

Brian Paddick

Brian Paddick, the Lib Dem candidate for mayor argued persuasively with the voice of experience about how to improve policing in the city, and that this relies on improving the relationship between the police and young people. It is young people themselves, he said, who know who have the guns and knives, and they need to be able to trust the police to pass on that information. He recalled that when he was in the police he would sit outside his Panda car and talk to young people, and criticised the Government for stopping this by forcing the police to just chase stupid targets.

He also called for "credible people" to get into schools to talk about the effects of using a knife, with both ex-offenders who were convicted of knife crime telling their stories and people who have been stabbed showing their wounds and scars and describing their trauma to teenagers.

Councillor Greg Foxsmith, Liberal Democrat councillor and chair of the commission, said:

"It was great that all the best mayoral candidates came to Islington to meet with our young people. And it was inspiring that so many young people came to interrogate the mayoral candidates!"

Councillor Paula Belford, a member of the Commission, said:

"Brian Paddick was clearly the star of the night. His arguments were deeply impressive, and it was obvious to everyone that he spoke from his long experience in the police. He just knew a lot more about issues around crime and had given this more thought than the other candidates.

"But most importantly, the young people themselves had a lot to say about their own safety on our streets so I am proud that the council has set up this forum to listen to them."

Islington's Liberal Democrat Council set up the Commission into Young People and Safety last year after the fatal stabbing of a teenager in the borough. It aims to come up with ways to tackle youth violence and prevent gang culture from developing in Islington, and has heard evidence from young people, youth workers, parents, teachers, and a wide variety of people from the community.