Brother of murdered teen Stephen Lawrence explains why primary school children need to be educated about knife crime in Milton Keynes

The brother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has spoken at MK’s Safety Centre about the importance of early intervention knife crime education.

Dr Stuart Laurence visited the centre to launch a month of action against violence and aggression, starting with the arrival of the famous Knife Angel scuplture in MK on December 1.

The month will see education about the dangers of knife crime being delivered to 1,500 primary school children in the city by the Safety Centre’s education team.

Stephen Lawrence was murdered in 1993 in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Eltham in London. He was 18 years old.

Stuart shared his story, experiences and messages of hope and tolerance as well as his belief that the safety education work of the Safety Centre is key to building flourishing and safe communities here in Milton Keynes and beyond in the future.

He said: “Early intervention is so important, at the end of the day the only person you can control is you and you need to have the tools to make safe choices.

"Education can be the most powerful tool in the world and the earlier we can give people the tools to be safe, the more it helps. We need to explain to young people that time is precious, and life is precious.

"One fifth of all knife crime is committed by 10-17 year olds and there’s a lot more we can do early on to explain to children the importance of life and that there’s always an amicable way of solving things.”

Assistant Chief Constable for Thames Valley Police Katy Barrow-Grint, said: “Seven out of the eleven murders in Thames Valley in the last year have come about because of a knife. I’m sure you’ll agree with me enough is enough. The preservation of life and working to address root causes and helping to save lives from being lost to violence but the wider impact in our communities and offenders themselves must be integral to everything we do as a partnership.”

Four of the seven knife murders in the TVP region have happened in Milton Keynes – in a period of just 13 weeks at the start of this year.

The Safety Centre is the region’s leading safety education charity, delivers its knife crime programme in its immersive education centre Hazard Alley as well as directly into schools.

The charity is teaching children about the life-changing impacts of being involved in knife crime.

It chief executive Maya Joseph-Hussain said: “This education initiative can save lives through creating safe spaces for impactful immersive learning and vital conversations about the consequences of being involved in knife crime. These conversations and sessions are potentially lifesaving and I’m proud to be leading a team of education specialists delivering pioneering safety education across our region.”

The giant Knife Angel sculpture is 27ft tall and and made from around 100,000 knives and other bladed weapons that have been collected in knife amnesty bins around the country.

It will be sited outside MK Stadium.