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Idris Elba Makes Impassioned Plea Regarding Britain's Rising Knife Crime

Idris Elba Makes Impassioned Plea Regarding Britain's Rising Knife Crime

The actor posted a video to his Instagram account in which he asked people to 'put the knives down'

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Actor Idris Elba has pleaded for young men across the UK to 'put the knives down'.

His impassioned speech comes after government figures showed a rise in the incidents of knife crime in the country.

According to the shocking stats the number of under-16s being treated for stab wounds has almost doubled over the last five years.

Now the 46 year old has condemned the 'stupid' trend and in the video posted to his Instagram account, he said: "Knife crime is not new. I grew up in the '80s and there was knife crime back then, between blacks and whites, and now it's definitely between young black men in small, tiny communities, and it's affecting everyone. We all look stupid.

"If you've got a knife, or you know someone that's got a knife, tell them to stab themselves right now, trust me. Because you're just going to stab your future if you go and stab someone else.

"You become a murderer, you go to prison, you ain't got shit. For what? For some beef that lives within your community. You need to see past that.

The actor pleaded with people to put the knives down.
PA

He added: "We have to say something about it as well, entertainers that are out there. There's young people that look up to us, man, we need to just vocalise this. Send a message out saying put the knives down. It's dumb. It's dumb."

Between March 2017 and 2018, there were 285 deaths caused by a knife or sharp instrument - the highest since Home Office records began in the 1940s.

Elba also took the opportunity to ask other celebs to come out and urge their followers to stop before they 'kill their future'.

He added: "We don't need to be killing ourselves. We have so much more we can offer. And you're going to kill your future, you're going to kill someone else's future, and it's dumb.

"Entertainers, do me a favour, man. Put out similar videos, let's try and put out something and say that we care for our communities. Stop the knife crime, please."

The actor also shared some statistics showing the escalation of knife crime in London over the past seven years, rising from 13,332 in 2011 to 14,769 this year.

In the caption Elba wrote: "This is NOT NEW but it IS STILL A PROBLEM. There will ALWAYS be Gangs, Rivals, Struggles In communities, we can't control that BUT we can make noise about the STABBINGS!! We need to make noise to protect these kids. So many Mothers/Fathers have had to bury their CHILDREN and FAMILY due to stabbings. This is happening to black young kids/men doing it to ourselves.

The video came in the wake of government figures which showed a rise in knife crime across the UK.
PA

"We wear the same skin but yet we act like we hate that skin, our identity. It's dumb. It's getting worse. We OURSELVES need to step up for these kids. Waiting for the Police to do something isn't a REAL solution, WE cannot WAIT for that. WE NEED TO MAKE NOISE IN PROTEST ABOUT THE DUMB STABBINGS, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE DEAD AND TO PROTECT THE LIVING.

"If you are someone that cares about this, make a video and tell them to throw the knifes away, not just ENTERTAINERS, EVERYBODY, Ring the alarm and make noise about this. Let's own this and encourage these gangs to put down the Knifes. ENTERTAINERS IF YOU GIVE A FUCK, MAKE A VIDEO TODAY PLEASE."

Amid the knife crime epidemic, which shows no signs of slowing in the UK, Asda has announced it will remove all single kitchen knives for sale at its stores by the end of April 2019.

The supermarket giant made the decision in response to the rising number of stabbings occurring across the country, especially those involving children and young people.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Instagram, UK News, TV and Film, Interesting, crime, UK Entertainment