AN Enfield politician has teamed up with the Haringey Independent to start a petition to Parliament to tackle knife crime.

As part of our Don't Carry, Don't Kill campaign, we are backing Enfield North MP Nick de Bois' call to extend new sentencing powers for a six-month mandatory jail sentence for those caught with a knife to under-18s.

Legislation is due to be presented in Parliament in October when it returns after the summer recess, when our petition will be delivered to MPs urging them to back our call.

Mr de Bois said: “This petition represents a chance for the whole borough to come together and send a clear message on youth knife crime.

“It is a sad but very real fact that in London we know that 15, 16 and 17 year olds are capable of using a knife to threaten or endanger a life.

“If we speak with one voice on this issue I know we can make a difference and seek to amend the legislation – I would urge everyone to sign the petition to the House of Commons.”

Eleven people have now been quizzed by detectives investigating the murder of 21-year-old Andrew Jaipaul, from Finsbury Park.

Three weeks after police officers found Mr Jaipaul in a pool of blood where he died in Andover Road, Holloway, no one has been charged with his murder.

And this week, an Old Bailey jury heard how Tottenham rapper Godwin Lawson, 17, was stabbed to death in a knife attack that lasted just 20 seconds.

Parliament will only accept petitions with hand-written signatures, so click here to download the petition, print it out, and send it to: Nick de Bois MP, House of Commons, LONDON SW1A 0AA