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PRITI'S BLADE ORDEAL
Home Secretary Priti Patel reveals drug-crazed thug threatened her with knife on her doorstep
HOME Secretary Priti Patel has told of the terrifying moment she was threatened with a knife on her doorstep.
A drug-crazed thug pulled the blade on her as she stepped from a taxi after visiting her sick husband in hospital.
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She managed to barge past using her rucksack as a shield before calling police.
But she admitted on Saturday: “It was absolutely horrendous. I was really, really upset.”
Ms Patel, 47, described her first-hand experience of knife crime as she unveiled her plan to combat street violence.
In an exclusive interview she vowed to restore the Tories’ reputation as the party of law and order by:
- Ending soft sentences she calls a “slap-on-the-wrist culture”, with longer jail terms for violent offenders;
- Giving cops greater protection, power and support they need to do the job;
- Beefing up the National Crime Agency into an FBI-style outfit equipped to tackle organised crime;
- Bringing back old-fashioned town policing to forge greater links between bobbies and the community;
- Handing Taser stun guns to an extra 10,000 frontline officers.
After barely nine weeks in the job, Ms Patel is fully aware that her top priority is to get a grip on violent street crime.
The need for action became all too clear in her second week when a government worker was stabbed in the street near the Home Office.
She has also seen the risks faced by police every day by joining them on patrol in crime-plagued areas.
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Ms Patel’s terrifying knife encounter came months before she was elected an MP.
She said: “It was 9pm and quite dark when my taxi pulled up.
“There was a group of young people smoking stuff on my garden wall. I asked them to move so I could get to my door and one pulled out a knife.
“I can’t tell you what sort but he also had a broken glass bottle in the other hand.
“It took me completely by surprise but my husband has always told me to make sure I have got my key in my hand after dark.
“I had a big rucksack and used it to push them out of the way and get to the door. Once inside I called the police.
“It was a truly shocking experience but one which I know many other people have had to face, sometimes with a less fortunate outcome.
'CRIME INVADES COMMUNITIES'
“Violent crime concerns us all. It invades communities and homes.
“It can break neighbourhoods and it has such a long-standing, chilling impact and effect.
“As in many other cases, the incident outside my house about ten years ago was drug-related.”
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Ms Patel was also appalled by the police’s response at the time.
She added: “They came round, listened and told me it was local youths high on drugs and that nothing could be done. They asked me if I had thought about moving house. That upset me most. I was absolutely incensed.” Ms Patel now has a bodyguard 24/7 which is always given to a Home Secretary.
Knife crime in England and Wales is at a record high with more than 43,500 offences in the past year — much funded or fuelled by drug gangs.
Ms Patel said: “This is a government that is going to play its part in the fight against crime. And we do that by strengthening and empowering the police.”
'I'M CHANGING EVERYTHING'
In a thinly-veiled swipe at ex-PM Theresa May, who spent six years in the same role, Ms Patel added: “Previous Home Secretaries, it is fair to say, have had a somewhat confrontational and difficult relationship with our law enforcement officers. I am changing that and did so on my second day when we made a very significant announcement of recruiting 20,000 police officers.
“We are doing something we have not done since the days of Margaret Thatcher, which is investing in our police. But it doesn’t stop at recruitment.
“We need to do more to protect them, giving them the tools to do the job, such as equipment and stop-and-search powers.
“I met the colleagues of PC Andrew Harper who died in the line of duty. That was the most sobering experience I have had.
“I want every police officer to know that we are not just going to give them resources but give them protection and the knowledge that I will stand by them.”
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Ms Patel has begun engaging with the Sentencing Council about toughening up the guidelines, with greater punishments for assaults on police — and mandatory jail for carrying a knife, including first-time offenders.
She said: “I want an end to this slap-on-the-wrist culture for criminals who assault police officers.
“A civilised society requires support for our law enforcers but respect as well.”
Ms Patel has a clear message for middle-class liberals who want to decriminalise drugs: “Not while I’m Home Secretary.”
She added: “Like me, people would find it unacceptable if they saw the impact on children and families whose lives are broken or destroyed because of knife and drug crime.”
Ms Patel has seen the success of increased stop-and-search powers.
Several youngsters were carrying drugs or knives when they should have been at school.
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She added: “This is why we are resourcing, equipping and empowering our police officers.
“I pay tribute to them because they put their lives on the line every single day.
“That is why I intend to make sure their backs are always watched and that law and order will always be my priority.”
Brex tricks
MS PATEL accused MPs of creating a Commons storm as a smokescreen for their plan to stop Brexit.
She hit out at Remainers who claim the PM is stirring up hatred by referring to a “Surrender Bill”.
Ms Patel said: “The laws they have passed are a surrender as they deliberately tie the hands of government. Parliament has become like a soap opera.
“In spite of that we are doing the right, dutiful and responsible thing — which is to deliver Brexit.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel vows to bring the full force of the law down on those who attack police officers
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