Calls to deglamourize carrying knives to stop young people dying

As we continue to investigate the extent of knife crime in Greater Manchester's schools, one family is leading calls to de-glamourise carrying a weapon.

Our exclusive figures from Greater Manchester Police reveal 351 knife-related incidents have taken place in the region's schools between 2018 and 2021.

They also suggest children as young as six are carrying them through the school gates and into playgrounds and classrooms.

The family of a 17-year-old who died after being stabbed in Hale Barns in March 2019 have told us that needs to change.

'It took ten seconds to kill Yousef'

Yousef Makki suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest, his sister Jade Akoum now wants to prevent other families suffering the same heartache.

"Somebody came to me yesterday to say their 12-year-old went into school with a knife.

"The ages are getting younger and younger and it's still deemed as 'cool".

The inquest into Yousef's death recently heard how knives were being carried for a 'social status'.

Jade says many young people don't understand the potentially-devastating impact carrying weapons can have.

"I think when you lose someone who had so much potential to a violent crime it's life-changing... it's changed all of our lives"

"It took ten seconds to kill Yousef... in those ten seconds hundreds of lives changed. People need to think about how serious it is".

She's calling on websites who sell knives to take more responsibility by making them less glamourous and less accessible.

"These websites... they make them look cool. They flick in certain ways, they've got certain colours.

"They need to change the image of them so they're not so appealing to the younger generation".

Finding support

If you are concerned or have any information about knife crime, you can report it online at www.gmp.police.uk or call us on 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.

If you would like to provide information anonymously, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org

Young people can give information 100% anonymously by contacting the charity Fearless at www.fearless.org.

They can also get involved in the I Am Greater campaign, which unites young people against violence by choosing to say ‘violence isn’t me … I am greater’.