Damian's Law: Mandatory sentencing for knife-carriers

On the 14th July 2007 our youngest son Damian Peter Muir was brutally murdered in a random and unprovoked knife attack in Greenock, Scotland. His killer was a twice-convicted knife-carrier, yet had not served a prison sentence for either crime. He was free to kill our son.

At present under Scottish Criminal Law, there is no mandatory sentencing for persons found carrying knives or other dangerous weapons in public. What possible defence can an individual give for carrying a knife at night in towns and cities across the country? And yet this practice goes on, detected but often unpunished.

A change in the law would be a major step towards eradicating the knife-culture that prevails in our society. It will allow ordinary law-abiding citizens to start to reclaim the streets from the knife-wielding thug.