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Cliff Marcus said carrying a knife is 'not for protection' as he called for tougher minimum sentences for offenders

The father of a young man stabbed to death in London has demanded tougher sentences for carrying knives as he declared stop and search "essential" to saving lives.

Cliff Marcus lost his 22-year-old son Leo Marcus after he was stabbed during a botched mugging in Woolwich, south London, in 2019.

Mr Marcus said he still thinks about his son every day and called for mandatory minimum sentences for people caught carrying knives.

He said: "We need a minimum of sentence for carrying a knife and then sticking to that minimum sentence."

Mr Marcus also issued a stark warning to young people who believe carrying a weapon will keep them safe.

He said: "They haven't even opened their eyes. They don't know what life's about.

"Stop and search is essential. It's essential to stopping these young boys from carrying knives.

"If you carry it, you're going to use it. It's not for protection."

His intervention comes as Metropolitan Police figures show officers recovered around 3,800 weapons through stop-and-search activity across London last year.

A further 27,800 drug seizures were made using the policing tactic.

The Met said stop and search "remains one of the most effective tools available to officers to prevent violence and detect crime".

A three-day operation targeting serious youth violence in August saw officers conduct 114 searches across Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley.

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Fourteen arrests were made, including six for possession of an offensive weapon, with one involving a Taser.

Another nine-day deployment in July resulted in 317 stop and searches, 30 arrests and the recovery of 16 weapons.

Bodyworn footage released by the force showed officers discovering large knives on men who were searched.

Detective Superintendent Lewis Sanderson said social media had enabled "easy access" to weapons including knives.

Discussing stop and search, he said: "It's an effective tool that reduces the amount of weapons on the street and every weapon we take off the street is another life saved."

Mr Sanderson said officers were also focused on explaining to young people why they were being searched and the consequences of knife crime.

The Met said knife-enabled crime across London fell by 14.9 per cent in 2025/26 compared with the previous year.

Knife-enabled robberies fell by 21 per cent, while offences in which a knife was used to cause injury dropped by 8.4 per cent.