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In the 1950s and early 1960s, Glasgow was awash with violent knife crime—actually, cutthroat razors. There was a sick joke in which a razor blade-carrying thug would say to someone, “Can your mother sew? Well, stitch that,” as he slashed the other person’s throat with the razor. This was known as the “Glasgow kiss”. So, what did Scotland do? After the Prevention of Crime Act 1953, which made it an offence to carry a knife in a public place, the Scottish judges got together and implemented a policy of stern sentencing to deter knife crime. A judge from the High Court of Justiciary—the Scottish equivalent of the Crown Court—Lord John Carmont was particularly known for his severe sentences, with “copping a Carmont” becoming a term for receiving a harsh penalty from him. In one instance in 1954, he sentenced eight men to a combined total of 52 years in prison for each carrying a cutthroat razor. It worked: the Scottish action killed off the epidemic of knife crime or razor crime in Scotland. I dearly hope that our judges in England will adopt this same strategy and policy, but that may be a false hope.