Kiyan died from a single stab wound

Home Office whip Lord Bassam said the government would look again at the two-year maximum sentence for carrying a knife without good cause.

He was responding to a Conservative call to raise it to five years.

Kiyan Prince, 15, was killed outside the London Academy School in Edgware on Thursday afternoon.

On Monday a 16-year-old boy appeared before Brent magistrates, charged with murdering Kiyan.

'Severe consequences'

During the Violent Crime Reduction Bill's committee stage, Conservative frontbencher Baroness Anelay of St Johns argued that a five-year maximum sentence would act as a deterrent.

Referring to the death of Kiyan and said they had to send a message that carrying a knife or blade was not acceptable.

"We should show that such behaviour is not tolerated and, if caught and found guilty, an individual should face very severe consequences," she said.

Lord Bassam told peers: "What I undertake to do, between now and report stage (of the Bill) is to ensure that we have a further review of this particular issue."

He stressed that only a very few pupils carried weapons and only 6% of violent crime involved knives.

But he added that 236 out of 820 homicides in 2004 and 2005 had involved "sharp implements".

The Bill would raise the minimum age for buying knives from 16 to 18, and would allow school staff to search pupils suspected of carrying weapons.