Oxford, mercifully, may not have had the epidemic of knifings plaguing London, but the messages from those affected by stabbings should carry no less weight.

This issue has been festering in the background for too long.

Too many people are carrying knives and it must stop.

What also must stop are the excuses why the young are doing it - others carry knives so they carry them for defence.

Rubbish. It is part of a culture of machoism where respect for others has gone. Ignoring that is self-defeating.

Enforcement is also key. If police charge only half those they catch with knives, senior officers nationally and at Thames Valley Police's headquarters need to ramp up their policy to enable our local bobbies to enforce the law.

We live in a city where two years ago, as we revealed, people took 243 knives to the magistrates court.

That's the place where justice is meted out, but these people - most of them criminals - knew it would be all right to wander in and hand over their blades temporarily to security staff without getting arrested.

They need to fear police will catch them when they swagger around town 'tooled up', and they need to know the human consequences that carrying a blade will lead to when they get in a fight.

Until that is the reality, we shall continue to read these heart-breaking stories.