Gloucester: Knife crime focus group gets unanimous backing

The creation of a focus group to tackle knife crime in Gloucester has received unanimous support by city councillors.

Civic leaders said the new group would involve young people in its plans.

It follows the fatal stabbing of Ramarni Crosby, 16, in December.

Conservative councillor Justin Hudson, who proposed the motion, said he was committed to working with all of the city's families affected by knife crime: "I've been moved by the passion and level of community response."

He continued: "This energy for change must be harnessed while our residents are keen to support this agenda by asking Stronger Safer Gloucester Partnership to lead on this.

"We as a council cannot solely solve this problem."

The authority backed the motion on 27 January for the Stronger Safer Gloucester Partnership to form a new group to learn from incidents, and look for solutions that will make a difference, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Lib Dem councillor Declan Wilson said the council needed to look at what other organisations had done to tackle the problem elsewhere in the country.

The council hopes to adopt a public health approach, as has been done elsewhere in the UK.

"As a community, we all need to come together and work together," Mr Wilson said.

Councillor Jeremy Hilton, also of the Lib Dems, said: "Knife crime in Gloucestershire is not as high as places like Birmingham or London but it's still too high."

He added the impact of budget cuts to youth services needed to be looked at.

Conservative councillor Pam Tracey suggested the council should take an "old fashioned" approach and bring back youth clubs.

"We've got to give them more attention," she said.

While Conservative councillor Alastair Chambers said community groups such as Put The Knives Down needed to be involved in the focus group.

"With knife crime incidents on the increase, as a city we need to join together to tackle it," added Mr Chambers.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]