Child's play

Act One

Scene 1:

Twelve teenagers are charged with murder following an attack in Victoria Station. A 15-year-old has been repeatedly stabbed near the ticket office of the District and Circle Line. It's late Thursday afternoon. Eyewitnesses say they saw children in school uniforms.

Scene 2:

Less than two days later, three young men are stabbed in a park in Stamford Hill, north London, in what's believed to be a gang-related fight. A 17-year-old boy doesn't survive.

The play though doesn't end there. It's to be continued, predictably when the stage is set for yet more violence.

However, these two fatal incidents were not rehearsals. They were tragically very real.

And once again more parents will suffer the trauma of losing a loved one.

Statistically, the latest teenage murders make a total of five so far this year. If you compare that to the same period in 2009, then it's more or less the same. In fact, last year the murder rate more than halved from a high of 29 violent deaths in 2008. Most involved knives.

So the problem may have improved but not gone away.

It's one for the politicians to debate. But one thing is abundantly clear, these deaths were certainly not child's play.