Relatives of murdered teenager call on young people to "do the right thing" and hand in weapons
A month long knife surrender scheme starts today (1st July)
The relatives of a teenager murdered in Wolverhampton are calling on young people to "do the right thing" and hand in their weapons.
A month long knife surrender scheme starts today (1st July).
What is a 'knife surrender scheme'?
As part of the scheme, 37 surrender bins are being installed across the West Midlands, London and Manchester.
The surrender bins give young people the opportunity to hand in their weapons anonymously. There will also be an amnesty van which will tour those three areas.
It comes ahead of a Ninja sword ban from the 1st of August.
What happened to Ronan Kanda?
This ban is something the Kanda family, from Wolverhampton, have been campaigning for ever since 16-year-old Ronan was murdered.
Ronan Kanda was murdered in 2022, yards away from his home in Wolverhampton.
The two teenagers that murdered him had bought a set of swords and a machete illegally online.
"This is one step forward only"
The ban on Ninja swords will be brought in under 'Ronan's Law'. His mother, Pooja Kanda, old us they will not stop their campaign here:
"We will not take a step back, this is not all. We want more measurements. This is one step forward only.
"I want to tell young people to do the right thing and hand in your weapons - you do not need them. You deserve a better future for yourself," she said.
"Making a real difference"
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said:
“The launch of today’s scheme is a result of months of collaborative working with the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime and I’m optimistic about what we can achieve together over the next month and then the years to come as part of our Plan for Change.
“I am incredibly grateful to Pooja Kanda, Sandra Campbell and Faron Paul whose work to tackle knife crime is making a real difference to young peoples’ lives.
“This scheme is just one part of addressing knife crime. We will not stop listening to those who are directly working with those impacted by this crime," she said.