Suffolk anti-knife campaigner wants better education for young people

Zombie-style knives and machetes are going to be banned as part of new laws from the Home Office

Paul Stansby (Right) and Jamie Hart (left) Be Lucky Anti-Knife Crime Foundation
Author: Jasmine OakPublished 25th Jan 2024

Zombie-style knives and machetes are going to be banned as part of new laws from the Home Office.

Legislation's going to be introduced - making it illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport these kinds of weapons.

Zombie-style knives were first banned in 2016 but ministers hope these tighter measures will stop some retailers being able to sell dangerous knives and machetes without breaking the law.

Paul Stansby, from Suffolk, set up the Be Lucky Anti-Knife Crime Foundation after his brother Deano died after he was stabbed back in 2017.

Since then, he has been campaigning to prevent and reduce knife crime, giving talks at schools and installing Bleed Control Kits throughout the county.

Paul tells us "you can never do enough" to prevent knife crime, saying that eradicating one thing, such as the zombie knives, means people will find something else that will become "the new big thing".

Instead, he wants to see more "wide spread" bans on anything "other than kitchen knives", along with tougher, and more immediate, consequences for those caught with knifes, rather than "a three part warning."

He also wants to see more "awareness" directed to younger people so the information and risks are "absorbed" and taken on as a "warning and a deterrent".

As well as educating younger people he hopes there can be funding put in place to "help companies give young people a chance....

"Keeping them busy, and providing options for them can stop them from feeling like they've got nowhere else to go other than the streets."

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