Local martial arts champion Joe Agoncillo teaches Mildmay residents to defend themselves against knife crime in the Mildmay area.
Knife crime has increased by 73% in Mildmay over the past year, according to data released by the Metropolitan Police last week. Islington as a whole saw a 19% increase in weapons offenses from 2024.
A two-time British champion in the Filipino martial art of Eskrima, Mr Agoncillo, 46, believes that weapons are making the streets more dangerous than ever: He said: “On the streets now, people don’t fight fair. Even kids nowadays use blades to get the edge.”
He believes his classes are essential in helping ordinary people protect themselves from such deadly weapons: “With Eskrima you learn how to use the weapon, you can learn how to defend yourself or disarm… you can only disarm the weapon if you know how to use it well.”
According to a statement issued by the Mildmay Safer Neighbourhoods Team on 30 October, the police’s main priorities in the area are “violence against the person” and “theft from the person”.
Mr Agoncillo does not think the police are doing enough. He said: “I don’t think there’s enough police on the streets. That’s why it’s so easy for people to commit crime.”
PC Craig Goodall, who is part of the Safer Neighbourhoods Team for Mildmay Ward, said: “It’s not possible to have police at every place at every moment in time, although of course that would be wonderful”.
Knife crime in particular has surged across the UK, having increased by 64% over the past decade. This past weekend 11 people were taken to hospital after a mass stabbing on a train in Cambridgeshire.
Amidst the rise in crime, people like Agoncillo are doing their best to support their community: “It’s good to learn some kind of self-defence. These days the situation is [terrible].”
Atticus Evans-Lombe is studying Newspaper Journalism at City St George's University.