West Midlands mothers unite to demand action

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West Midlands mothers unite to demand action

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Alison Cope, Pooja Kanda and Charlotte Marshall (left to right) will quiz leaders of West Midlands Police together

Three mums whose sons were stabbed to ****** say the ban on zombie knives must go much further if the country is to win the ****** against ****** ******.

Alison Cope, Charlotte Marshall and Pooja Kanda say compulsory education in schools and earlier intervention for minor ******* is vital to help drive down senseless stabbings.

The women, from the West Midlands, have dedicated their lives to campaigning against knives since their sons were murdered.

They will meet with the leaders of West Midlands Police on Tuesday to ask how they plan to cut the worst rate of ****** ****** in the country.

The ban, which came into force at midnight, means it will be ******** to possess “zombie-style” knives and machetes in England and Wales.

Mrs Kanda, whose son Ronan was *******

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said she did not believe the ban would have much effect.

She told the Labour party conference on Monday that young people were likely to turn to kitchen knives or swords instead and wants the online ***** of all large knives banned.

“I can’t have this happen to another child. I just can’t,” she told the BBC.

Alison Cope’s son was stabbed in the heart near a nightclub in Birmingham in 2013

Mrs Cope, whose son Joshua Ribera was murdered while attending a memorial event

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, has spoken to thousands of schoolchildren in her efforts to draw them away from ****** ******.

She strongly believes her work has saved lives, but says the education system needs to get a grip on the situation.

“We need to do more compulsory work, long term, in education,” Ms Cope said. “We’re waiting till it’s too late.”

She said she had heard of children starting secondary school petrified of ****** ****** and ending up carrying a ****** themselves for protection.

Ronan Kanda’s killers had been excluded or suspended from school.

His mother said there needed to be a system in place to guide children in this position, rather than abandoning them.

“We need to support children instead of discarding them, because it can lead them to do things like *******,” Ms Kanda said.

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Ronan Kanda, Joshua Ribera and Reece Ottaway all ***** from stab wounds

Mrs Marshall said anyone caught with a ****** should undergo a compulsory programme to ensure they understood the effects blades had on their lives and victims’ families.

Her son Reece Ottaway, originally from Rugby in Warwickshire, was murdered by a gang of men who broke into his flat in Northampton.

His killers used a zombie-style ******, with one wound 15cm (6in) deep. They then took off with

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.

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Pooja Kanda and Ronan’s sister Nikita also want a ban on the ***** of other weapons such as swords

Ms Kanda has urged the government to go after the source of the weapons as well, including online retailers or anyone selling knives without doing the proper checks.

“The ****** needs to come out of their hand first, because you can’t give a child a lecture while they’re holding a ******,” Ms Kanda said.

“So to me it is important that the online ***** of these weapons are banned so they don’t get into the wrong hands.”

The new legislation will make it an offence to own, make, transport or sell a wide range of what are called “statement” knives favoured by ********* gangs.

However, the women have no doubt people will still get their hands on other blades and children will continue to ****.

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Charlotte Marshall’s son was stabbed to ****** at his Northampton flat

‘More investment’

The mums will meet with West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford and Police and ****** Commissioner Simon Foster on Tuesday.

Project Guardian, an initiative by the force to stamp out ****** ****** and tackle youth *********, was launched in 2019. It operates across Birmingham, the ****** Country, Coventry and Solihull.

“We’ve all sadly seen the harm which weapons can cause and we work day in day out to take weapons off the streets,” West Midlands Police said.

Mr Foster added more investment was being made in prevention, early intervention and addressing the underlying causes of *********.

He said his ********* Reduction Partnership was engaged in delivering a wide range of projects, including education in schools and youth workers in accident and emergency departments, police custody centres and on school routes.

Ronan’s sister Nikita said: “If we can understand why kids are going down the wrong path and harming themselves and other people, then maybe we can stop this and make people understand that ****** ****** isn’t the way forward.”

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#West #Midlands #mothers #unite #demand #action

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