YORK is still a relatively safe city. While news of violent attacks may be more common in larger cities, it is usual, and therefore all the more shocking, to hear of what happened to York teenager Mark Sykes.

The 18-year-old was cycling through Heslington late at night when two young men, one wielding a knife, knocked him off his bike, threatened him and then slashed him with the blade. Mark says in today's edition that he believes his jacket may have saved his life.

This incident could so very easily have been much more serious and, thankfully, Mark has escaped relatively unscathed, though understandably he is very shaken. Despite his narrow escape, Mark was punched in the face and his bicycle and mobile phone were stolen.

It is to be hoped that the perpetrators of this attack will be caught - and caught soon. Today we also report that police working on the east side of York are taking a fresh approach in tackling crime.

Known criminals living and operating on this side of the city are being warned that they will be targeted and arrested one by one.

No longer are the police prepared to wait until crimes are committed - now officers declare that they will make life very uncomfortable for known offenders.

As Inspector Ken McIntosh, area commander for the east of the city, puts it: "We know who they are, where they are and we will actively target them."

We can only hope that the thugs who assaulted Mark Sykes will soon be tracked down and receive the punishment they deserve.

Updated: 12:30 Thursday, March 22, 2001