Last week more blood was shed on the streets of Britain as the country continued to suffer from an unprecedented rise in stabbings - often fatal. The randomness and frequency of these incidents has been shocking. Why has it become so routine for many young Britons to carry and use knives so brutally? Here, in a remarkably frank series of interviews, young men from different backgrounds tell Anushka Asthana and Ross Slater what compels them to carry knives and why they are increasingly prepared to use them

Paul, 21

Paul lives in the London borough of Bromley, where he works as a plumber. He has cropped blond hair and dresses in T-shirts and baggy jeans. He smiles and laughs as he talks about growing up in the area, where he admits he was once part of a gang.

'My dad was stabbed to death when I was three years old. That is one of the reasons that I now carry a knife. It's for protection. You never know who else will have one. This way, if someone is going to stab me, I will stab them first. It does not matter how tough the laws are. So many people are carrying knives, there's always the risk that someone will pull one out on you. It's purely protection. I wouldn't pull mine out unless someone else pulls one on me first. I have slashed someone in the face, but I wouldn't want to stab someone to kill them.

'Last year a local boy - Ben Hitchcock - who was 16 was beaten and stabbed to death. I think his death made more teenagers round here think they needed to carry a knife for protection. Even if it was my little brother or cousin I would understand if they wanted to carry a knife, but I would tell them to use their fists if they can. I would always prefer to fight fist to fist, but there are crackheads who would stab you for a fiver. I reckon computer games play a role - I have seen five-year-olds playing Grand Theft Auto, which is very violent.

'Once two boys tried to rob me. They were bigger than me, but when I pulled my knife out and acted like a nutter, they decided it was not worth it and left. If I hadn't done that they would have beaten the shit out of me. I have been arrested with a knife and got a year's probation, but I still carry one. If someone is coming to kill me, I would rather kill them first. If the people who killed Ben come to Penge they will be knifed themselves. There will be justice.'

David, 21

David is a builder from southeast London. He is a well-built white man of average height. He dresses smartly - in a flat cap, dark blue polo-shirt and neat jeans - and says that he has cut down on alcohol because he is in training. As well as working as a builder, he admits to carrying out 'illegal work' that puts his life at risk. He lives with his partner and daughter.

'I had a bad experience when I was 16. I was in a nightclub in Croydon and this geezer stabbed me with a brandy bottle, near my groin.

'Ever since then I have carried a knife for protection. There is always someone bigger and harder than you out there. Other people use bottles, tools, knives, anything. I was once dragged into a van and had a replica gun placed against my head. In that situation, all I had to do was pull my blade out and it was job done. I stabbed him in the leg. I used my knife and I am proud of it.

'I am not a bad person. I pay taxes, I look after my kid. The reason I carry a knife is to protect my family. Because of what I do, I have had nutters turn up at my house, so now it is tooled up with knives and bats. It is not a new thing. In the Nineties, when football was the in thing, I used to go to watch Millwall and people used to be tooled up with everything - knives, bricks, pipes, and as a young kid I wanted to be like that.

'I understand that they are trying to crack down on it, but they will never stop it. I have seen young kids walking into Sainsbury's, pick up knives from the cutlery section and walk out. It doesn't even have to be sharp - anything with a point that glistens will scare someone.

'It is all about the psychology of fear, about who has the power. They know you are serious when you pull something out. Everyone who carries a knife has a reason. Some people do it for the power and the reputation, I do it for the protection.'

Shabs, 20

Shabs is 6ft 3in tall with a mischievous smile. He is of Anglo-Indian descent, but his dark skin marks him out as different in the predominantly white area of Nottingham where he has been born and bred. In the front pocket of his blue jeans is a neat little object that, at the press of a button, extends to a shining four-inch blade.

'It has been with me since I was 14 years old. When it is not in my pocket, it is hidden in my room. It is protection. If my father knew he would be furious and very upset. He was born in India but is very patriotic towards Britain. He brought me up to respect the law. He works as a chef and has paid his way all the time he has been in this country. I can't really fault him, but I see things differently.

'When I was 14 I started hearing about people getting jumped on in town and then one of my mates got stabbed. It didn't kill him or hurt him too badly but it started me thinking. I had been bullied at school for years and called "Paki" and I realised that I had better look after myself. It was also just after the Twin Towers thing and I knew people were hating all us Asians whether we are Muslim or not.

'I got a flick knife from a certain shop in Nottingham. I bought it for £4. I never thought they wouldn't sell it to me. I don't brag about it or let anyone know that I carry it apart from some very close friends, because that would be stupid.

'I have been caught with it once by the police when I was 18 but it was my first offence, so I got a conditional discharge. On that occasion we were going to an organised fight with some lads from another part of town. My dad doesn't know anything about it.

'I guess my friends became more of an influence than my dad. They didn't all carry knives but they would all understand why you would. Lots of terrible things happen out there - the more you hear about it, the more you need to protect yourself. I think the knife did help me once when I am sure I would have been chopped had I not had it with me.

'When I bought it I didn't feel intimidated at school any more. I knew that if anyone took things too far then I could take it to another level again. My mum knows I have it. She doesn't agree with it, but she has never taken it away from me or told my dad about it. I guess it is a kind of security thing.'

Seal, 20

Seal - his street name - is of Irish descent and was brought up in Brent, north-west London, by his mother. His father died when he was very young. Last month he was released from jail after serving nearly four years of a five-year sentence for GBH involving a knife. Since the age of 16 he has been moved from prison to prison, including Feltham, Huntercombe, Portland, Colchester and Exeter. He dresses in jeans, T-shirts and Nike trainers with a gold chain around his wrists, a watch and ring. He works as a gym instructor.

'I am a reformed criminal. I used to carry a knife around all the time. When I was 16, I had an altercation with this guy. He had assaulted my girlfriend in a pub in north London. He hit her and she called me.

'It started as a fist fight but then he started talking about going to get weapons, including guns, so I took out my knife and used it. He was injured quite badly. I was charged with attempted murder but then it was reduced to GBH. I was 16 and I was sentenced to five years in prison. My mum was absolutely devastated. The reason that most guys carry a knife or gun is fear. If you have got a nice watch or a nice chain, other people want to get hold of it. I carried mine in my pocket or waistline. If I was too young to buy one, I asked someone else to do it for me. I was living on a council estate and saw older kids with the best clothes and money, so I got involved. Being in a gang was like being in a family.

'We used to rob people for their phones or jewellery. I had absolutely no remorse at the time. It was thrilling; you get respect from people who know you are a bigger person than them in the underground scene. It was a part of growing up around money and drugs.

'I feel like a scumbag when I remember how I behaved. But it is what a lot of kids are doing now. I do not know how they can stop it, it might be impossible - it is gang culture and it is growing. I do not do it now. Why? Because I spent half of my teenage years in prison. I am 20, I was 16 when I went to jail. I think I must have been 10 years old when I first used a knife.'

Duwayne, 17

Duwayne is in the first year of living independently in Nottingham. He was given a flat by the council, having been in local authority care from the age of 15. He is mixed-race with a Jamaican father and an English mother. Standing at 5ft 5in, he wears loose-fitting jeans that hang below his buttocks, showing off his Lacoste boxer shorts.

'My friends and me at school used to have this little thing going on where we would go into camping shops and steal things. It was just a bit of fun, but we ended up taking knives because they were one of the easiest things to put in your pocket and run away with. We used to mess about with them but it was just fun.

'I didn't start taking a knife out with me for protection until last year. I was in town just hanging around waiting for some mates when these football lads from Leeds started having a go at me. They started calling me a thieving monkey and all this racist shit. I felt so small. I wanted to fight them, but all I had was my fists. I ended up being knocked unconscious. Another time, I had my mobile stolen because someone pulled a knife.

'What was I supposed to do? The police aren't going to come and help you. It is up to people to help themselves. Most of my friends have a knife. To me it is a logical thing. I need something to back me up because it is a big, bad world out there. A gun is taking it to another level and I wouldn't want to go there but I have had nothing in my life to support me. I had to escape from my father who badly beat me and then the council wanted rid of me as soon as I turned 16.

'I am quite a vulnerable person. I am not tall - I live on my own. I don't see how having a knife is so wrong. I would never pull it first, but if someone else pulls a knife on me then I am going to let them know about it. It gives me a sense of power and protection when I am rolling the street. If they come, they will get it, not me.

'I don't really worry about being caught with it by the police. This is a cheap blade. I can throw it away if I know I am getting stopped and think nothing of it. A knife is one small way I can make myself feel more secure.'

Ryan, 17

Ryan was brought up by his mother in Ladbroke Grove, west London. When he was 14, a cousin bought him a knife for his own 'protection'. Ryan, who is of black Caribbean descent, decided to give up his knife at the end of last year. He is now at college hoping to become a youth worker with the charity Rainer, which supports vulnerable young people, or a dancer.

'When I was 14, I went on a field trip to an amusement park with my youth centre. I remember there was this guy who came with us and bullied me all day. He was trying to humiliate me in front of the girls. It got to me, so the next day I decided I wanted a knife. I thought that if I saw him again and he tried anything, I could wave it at him and he would calm down. I told my cousin that there was this one person getting on my nerves and he bought it for me. It was just a penknife but I felt safer.

'I carried the knife for a few years, but I didn't threaten anyone with it and I never boasted about it. I didn't like the fact that I was carrying it and I did not want anyone to shout out that I had a knife, if the police were around. I carried it by my waist or in my shoe. I felt it was protection but it was also a tool I could use for intimidation.

'I used to carry different knives - sometimes I just took them out of the kitchen drawer. I lived with my mum but she never found out. If she had, she would have said "don't carry it" but that would not have stopped me. We used to think that if we did not have one and they did, we would be in trouble.

'I stopped at the end of last year because I thought I was going to end up taking someone's life. Before that I used to just think it was their life or mine, but I've grown up. I also saw my mum crying when she heard that Kodjo Yenga, a 16-year-old, had been killed in west London. I see these mothers in the papers and know that if I stabbed someone I would feel bad. Now, I think God gave me two fists to fight and two legs to run away.'

· Some names have been changed.