EXCLUSIVE: Mum of murdered Doncaster man sees kids 'as young as 8' carrying knives there
Lisa Theobald has been speaking exclusively to us about knife crime in the city
The mum of a South Yorkshire man - who was stabbed to death in Doncaster over 2 years ago - says she's recently seen children 'as young as 8' carrying knives in the city.
Lisa Theobald's 20-year-old son Ryan was murdered - alongside his friend Janis Kozlovskis - in January of 2022.
19-year-old Amrit Jhagra's since been sentenced to a minimum of 26 years behind bars for killing the pair.
Speaking exclusively to us - Lisa says it's 'still normal' for young people to carry knives around Doncaster:
"There more retribution going on, and people don't want to snitch, so it carries on and carries on.
"We need to get younger kids educated about knife crime, starting at primary school.
"I recently saw an 8-year-old walking in Doncaster carrying a knife.
"These days I don't even let my daughter go to the park on her own.
"I just have to try and put things in a box mentally so I can get through each day - it's still really hard.
"I hate waking up in the morning, because I know how I'm going to feel later in the day.
"Ryan's never out of my mind."
Earlier this year, a knife amnesty bin was set up at Cantley park - where Ryan played football as a teenager for Bessacarr FC - in his memory.
It was installed with the aim of encouraging more young people to get rid of any dangerous weapons they own:
"People who've got knives at home, who don't know what to do with them, bring them down to Cantley park and put them in the bin.
"Think twice before carrying a knife, or either you or someone else will end up dead.
"You could end up locked up and lose your life that way.
"It doesn't just affect you, it affects your family as well, and it's your family who you need to think about."
South Yorkshire Police are currently carrying out a dedicated week of action - known as Operation Sceptre - to try & reduce knife crime.