Murdered boy's mum says knife crime getting worse

The mother of a schoolboy who was killed with a zombie knife says she feels "sad and hopeless" over the increase in teenage knife violence.

Pooja Kanda's son Ronan was murdered in a case of mistaken identity close to his home in Wolverhampton in June 2022.

Ms Kanda, who campaigns against the sale of bladed weapons, said recent fatal stabbings "take her back" to the day she lost her son.

The percentage of hospital admissions due to knife attacks in the 0-17 age group is the highest in the past decade, NHS data shows.

Admissions in the same age group also rose in the most recent figures, from 467 in 2022-23 to 509 in 2023-24.

"It's very hard to continue to live in a positive way when you continuously see knife violence growing among these children," Ms Kanda, who is part of the government's coalition to tackle knife crime, said.

"Things are definitely getting worse. It's getting younger and younger, children are now 12 years old who are being killed."

Her 16-year-old son was attacked by two teenagers who had bought a set of swords and a machete on the internet.

She said Ronan was "the soul" of the family adding: "I feel really sad and hopeless in this world right now."

Ms Kanda, who also appeared in actor Idris Elba's BBC documentary Our Knife Crime Crisis, said every time she was aware of another stabbing case her heart was "broken over and over".

Ms Kanda said schools were "hot spots for this type of behaviour" and early intervention and better school policies were key in stopping it.

A ban on owning and selling zombie-style knives and machetes was brought in in September and the government said it planned to ban ninja swords in the future.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said tackling violence and making streets safer was "at the heart of this government's plan for change".

"But we cannot do this alone," she added.

"One of the first things the prime minister did was launch the coalition to tackle knife crime which brings together different communities and voices to ensure our work will actually make a difference to young people."

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