英ロンドン、殺人現場の風景

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英首都ロンドンには、暴力による死を思い起こさせる光景が至るところにある。ＡＦＰは、昨年ロンドンで起きた殺人の現場を巡った。（写真は、２０２３年２月９日に殺人が起きた英ロンドンの現場に残された警察の立ち入り禁止テープ）
　学校の前、運河沿いの道、ナイトクラブの近く、公園、さびれた工業団地の落書きされた壁に、犠牲者を追悼する言葉が残されていた。道路標識の柱には犠牲者の写真が張られ、街角には風船やロウソク、サッカーチームのシャツなどが供えられていた。
　ロンドン警視庁が管轄するグレーターロンドン（大ロンドン）で昨年起きた殺人事件は１１０件。犠牲者のうち９１人が男性、１９人が女性だった。
　犯罪統計によると、うち１４人は家庭内の事件で殺害された。１０代の犠牲者は２１人で、前年比５０％増だった。またナイフ絡みの事件が７１件あった。
　犠牲者の低年齢化と殺され方が特に問題視されており、世論や政治の場で、ナイフによる犯罪に対する懸念と対策を求める声が高まっている。
　昨年９月に通学路で刺殺された１５歳の少女を悼む道端の祭壇には、「若者は殺し合いをやめて。ナイフを使うな。暴力反対」とのメッセージがあった。だが、今年もまた流血の惨事はやみそうにない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/23-16:48）

Reminders of violent death and lives cut brutally short can be seen across the British capital, from its bleaker commuter hinterlands to even its most sought-after neighbourhoods.
Raindrops cover the cellophane of decaying flowers left outside a fried chicken shop in Camberwell. On Primrose Hill, half-empty bottles of wine from a tragic New Year's Eve party lie on the damp grass.
Elsewhere, yellowing bouquets can be found under trees, by a terraced house down a suburban side street and a supermarket store front.
Tributes are left outside a school, on a canal towpath, near a nightclub, in a park and the graffiti-ed wall of a deserted industrial estate.
Photos of the victims are often taped to the poles of street signs. Ink runs on scribbled notes of condolence.
At the more elaborate makeshift memorials, helium balloons, tealight candles, packets of sweets and a football shirt are left as offerings.
The Metropolitan Police said there were 110 recorded homicides in 2023 in the 620-square-mile (1,605-square-kilometre) Greater London area for which it is responsible -- one more than in 2022.
Of the 110 victims, 91 were male and 19 female.
- 'Stop killing each other' -
In the clinical accounting of crime statistics, 14 deaths were classed as domestic homicides, an 18-percent fall on the preceding 12 months.
Twenty-one of those killed overall were teenagers -- a 50-percent increase year on year -- while 71 of the deaths involved a knife.
The young age of the victims and the manner of their deaths has not gone unnoticed in the UK, fuelling public and political concern about knife crime and prompting calls to act.
Among them are those trying to stop London Mayor Sadiq Khan from securing a third term of office at local elections in May, and their media backers, who have branded the capital lawless London.
The criticism adds to that of Khan's expansion of a road-charging scheme for the most polluting vehicles, to cut damaging air pollution.
Sadiq Khan has simply not done enough, and we cannot afford another four years under his watch, said Conservative mayoral hopeful Susan Hall, in reference to her Labour party rival.
But Khan blames Tory central government cuts, saying they have effectively left police to fight crime with one hand tied behind their backs.
At a roadside shrine to a 15-year-old girl stabbed to death as she made her way to school in September, the message is clear.
Youth stop killing each other. No to stabbing. No to violence, one sign read.
But as 2024 begins, there has been no let-up in the bloodshed.
photo-phz/jwp