‘Enough is enough’: bereaved families demand end to knife crime

“I cannot be silent anymore. We are not asking. We are not suggesting. We are demanding no more knives.”

These were the words of reverend Dawnecia Palmer who held a rally to protest against knife crime and remember those who have been lost.

She was joined by bereaved families, anti-knife campaigners, community leaders and local councillors who held placards, prayed and spoke of their sadness and frustration at the continuing number of people killed by violent crimes.

“I want you to speak out your outrage at what’s going on in our city, around our country,” added Palmer. “We are saying no the the knife.”

Speakers at the event called for action to prevent young people from carrying knives and harsher laws to punish those who do.

Palmer is the chief commissioner of PEACEMAKERS Prayer and City Safety Patrols 

The rally on Colston Avenue came after several recent fatal violent incidents in the city.

A 16-year-old-boy was hospitalised on October 1 after being attacked and stabbed by a group of around ten other boys.

Sixty-one-year-old Hubert Brown died from a stab wound suffered during an incident on Grosvenor Road, St Paul’s, on October 2.

Eddie Kinuthia, known as EK, 19, died after being stabbed in the same area on July 21.

Mikey Roynon, 16, from Kingswood in South Gloucestershire, died from a single stab wound in Bath on June 10.

Amira Cole, Labour councillor for Ashley, said: “It hurts to see so many young people lost this way.

“It hurts to think that so many of us think there is nothing we can do about this.

“But standing aside and doing nothing makes you complicit with what is going on.

“You have to let whoever is picking up the knife know: enough is enough.”

“This is not a boundary issue, it’s a people issue,” added Green councillor for Eastville Lorraine Francis, who lost her brother in law to a knife crime 40 years ago.

“There have been so many cuts to the services that are open to young people.

“Many are excluded from school and then they end up loitering and getting involved in crime because they don’t see a future for themselves.”

Councillors, campaigners and residents spoke at the rally held beneath the Cenotaph

Mark Shelford, Avon and Somerset police and crime commissioner, said: “Reducing knife crime is one of Avon and Somerset Police’s key priorities as a police service.

“The police work year-round to tackle knife crime and keep our communities safer. Using intelligence, weapons are confiscated and people carrying them are prosecuted.

“We also know enforcement is not the only answer – we can’t police our way out of serious violence and knife crime, the causes are complex and multi-faceted.

“We are working alongside communities and other partners to improve the life outcomes of our young people, as we recognise that many of the people involved are vulnerable and need support.”

The maximum sentence for carrying a knife illegally is four years in prison and an unlimited fine.

All photos: Rob Browne; video: Betty Woolerton

Read next:

• Vigil held to remember St Paul’s stabbing victim
• Community football event held to tackle knife crime
• ‘Knife crime is not the disease but a serious symptom’

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