Manchester stab victim's mum backs mandatory jail terms for knife carrying

A mother whose son was stabbed to death has said anyone caught carrying a knife should be jailed to "set an example".

Kelly Brown's 16-year-old son Rhamero West died after he was attacked in Trafford, Manchester in 2021.

She has backed a call for mandatory prison terms for possession by parents whose daughter was killed in the Nottingham attacks last year.

Plans to tighten restrictions on the sale of zombie-style knives have also been announced.

The government has brought new rules to Parliament to ban the sale and ownership of knives and machetes that were not covered under previous bans in England and Wales as they did not feature threatening words or images.

Ms Brown told BBC Radio Manchester she could not understand why the changes would not take effect until September.

"I don't understand the logic of banning XL bullies within three months when our kids have been dying for years from knives, and now it's not coming into effect for another eight months," she said.

A government spokesman said an "official surrender scheme" would be run first to get the "knives off our streets as soon as possible" before the full ban in September.

Ms Brown, who has campaigned for bleed kits to be installed around Greater Manchester in her son's memory, said mandatory jail sentences for those caught carrying the weapons could help drive down knife crime.

"I think you need to instil a fear in children who are carrying knives," she said.

But she added that young people also needed more support and guidance, including more "established youth clubs".

Matthew Norford, a former gang leader from Rusholme who set up organisation 1Message to work with young people to tackle gang crime, said most children carried knives as a "deterrent".

"I would say a good 80% of them are just protecting themselves," he said.

"If every single kid was buying these to attack people there would be a lot more murders."

Mr Norford, whose brother was stabbed to death, added: "We need to young people stuff to do that's positive, they need role models, they need an outlet."

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham welcomed a ban on zombie knives but said he would prefer penalties for those carrying knives to be strengthened rather than introducing mandatory jail terms.

He said he would rather see those caught referred to the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction unit than given immediate prison sentences.

"It's still a bad decision, but some are carrying them through fear rather than aggression," he said.

Mr Burnham said Greater Manchester's knife crime figures had fallen 16% between June 2022 and July 2023, which corresponded with a fall in young people being treated in A&E due to injuries with a sharp object.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]