Norfolk mum whose son was fatally stabbed in Ipswich calls for more effort to tackle knife crime
She's backing calls for police to take a more holistic approach to stopping knife crime
The Norfolk mum of an 18-year-old stabbed to death in Ipswich is backing calls for police to take a more holistic approach to stopping knife crime.
It's as Ipswich MP Jack Abbot's written to Suffolk Police asking for a review on existing strategies, tougher sanctions and rapid intervention on young people carrying weapons.
In a letter, he's also called for the establishment of a Suffolk Knife Crime Coalition, which would bring together local political institutions, the police and other relevant stakeholders from across Suffolk - including educational and youth professionals - to review and refresh existing local knife crime strategies.
In his letter, Abbott personally mentions Raymond James Quigley, known locally as James Quigley.
James was fatally stabbed in Ipswich town centre back in January 2023.
Abbot comments that his life was "tragically short and illustrates the imperative of tackling knife crime in a multi-faceted and urgent manner".
We spoke to James' mother Margaret Oakes about her thoughts on this new initiative.
She told us she thinks it's a great idea: "It's needed everywhere...
"I think it needs to be ongoing and regularly updated so everybody can be on the same page and can keep up with what everyone else is doing, and all these things need to work as a group.
"I do think this approach will help massively."
We asked Margaret what she would like to see change from the police: "I think lots more patrolling around the streets and search rounds.
"Although Stop and Search is good and should continue and we should have lots more of it, we have to remember that not everyone carries their weapons on them...
"Our government needs to step up and change the laws and allow the police to do more on our streets.
"A lot more needs to be done quickly as we can see knife crime is not in a good place...
"I would like to see harder sanctions. If people are not sent to jail for carrying a knife then they should be put into community work, tagged, or taken off the streets for a certain amount of time until they learn that's not the way."
Margaret would also like to see more education around knife crime and the "devastating" impact it has on everyone involved:
"I think at a certain time, a bleed out should be shown so people know what happens to someone in graphic detail so people can actually see the harm and what it does...
"Maybe it might just make them think about it - what if it was one of their family members?
"There should be groups educating students in schools...
"I think we should have groups of people in all our communities and workshops with the families of victims and murders, someone who has survived knife crime... so everything is heard from all angles.
"People should also hear how it impacts a family when somebody has been taken through knife crime.
"We live another life after that, it's never the same life as we had before."
Margaret also wants to see more done to help those who are involved in knife crime, so that they can get away from it: "'There are some people out there carry knives out there because they're scared of their own lives or a situation they might be in, so some help is needed.
"If somebody does want to come forward, I think they should get help instead of a full sanction."
Nearly two years since her son's passing Margaret told us it doesn't get any easier:
"We have no choice but to get on and deal with it, our family's still upset and broken, we're still broken-hearted... it's really really difficult.
"It gets harder because it's longer since you've heard from him, it's longer since you've spent time with him. Every occasion, we're now coming up to Christmas... he's not here and life just can't be the same again...
"People are looking forward to Christmas dinners and stuff but I am looking forward to missing my son. Christmas just can't be the same anymore."