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Scottish Conservative MSP Margaret Mitchell has joined fellow MSPs Christina McKelvie and James Kelly in congratulating the Hamilton Advertiser in their campaign to ‘Hammer The Knife Thugs’.

Almost 11,000 Hamilton Advertiser readers have now signed their Hammer the Knife Thugs’ petition launched in February 2011.  Few other single campaigns against the blade have attracted such support.

Readers are sending a clear an unequivocal message to the Scottish Government: implement mandatory sentences for knife thugs.

The Advertiser launched the “Hammer The Knife Thugs” campaign, calling for tougher sentences for people carrying and using knives, after the tragic death of Glasgow University student Reamonn Gormley on February 1.

The 19-year-old was stabbed to death while returning home after watching a Celtic versus Aberdeen match in the Parkville in Glasgow Road, Blantyre.

Barry Smith (18) and 22-year-old Daryn Maxwell, both of Blantyre, have been charged with his murder.

Margaret Mitchell, the Scottish Conservative Central Scotland MSP told the newspaper: “I congratulate the Hamilton Advertiser in taking up this very serious and deeply concerning issue within South Lanarkshire that has established itself as the murder capital of Scotland.

“The huge number of people backing the campaign should demonstrate to the Scottish Government that after four years in office more now has to be done about tackling knife crime.”