Parents in Croydon say they are not letting their children walk home from school for fear of stabbings

The families, including Elianne Andam’s, have called on national and local government to “speed up” the ban on zombie knives, machetes and swords, which doctors say cause more trauma to victims. Teachers and parents, who met with Croydon community leaders and politicians, also called for greater early intervention to stem the problem which has plagued the borough.

The event, held at Selhurst Park yesterday (June 3), brought together eight families of children who have lost their lives to knife crime in the capital for an unprecedented discussion about the personal impact of knife crime. Croydon’s history of knife crime and youth violence was also the subject of intense debate, with participants agreeing the problem was “pressing” but “multi-factorial”.

There was unanimous agreement on the urgent need to speed up the ban on zombie knives, machetes and swords. One of the parents, Theresa Amiable Lina, made an impassioned plea in the room and said: What is the purpose of these knives, other than to do damage.”

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Her son Zaian, 15, was stabbed to death after confronting the teenager in Ashburton Park, Croydon, in December 2021. Along with her husband Brian, they said “If you felt that, you would empathize and you would show compassion.”

Knife Crime campaigner Faron Paul was also in attendance and spoke about the level of damage these knives are causing to young victims. Paul, who personally collects knives from teenagers as part of his Faz Amnesty campaign, said: “The first mistake to make is to look at a problem, it’s a war.”

Zombie knives and machetes cause more damage than household knives due to the use of curved and serrated edges. Croydon Health Services chief executive Matthew Kershaw said: “It is getting harder and harder for surgeons but we are seeing the end of the process. Now it’s more serious than what I’ve seen in 30 years of work.”

However, Paul also warned attendees that “normal” household knives are still responsible for a large number of stabbings because they are easy to reach and less suspicious. He therefore suggested that attaching serial numbers to each knife could be a useful solution to improve the “traceability” of knives.

He added: “The way it’s going on the streets with the number of deaths, I don’t know how we’re not more worried. It is frustrating to see some MPs still vote against banning swords. Why.”

Croydon South candidate Chris Philp was one of four aspiring MPs in the room, the others being Sarah Jones and Natasha Irons, Labour’s candidates for Croydon West and East respectively, and Donna Murray-Turner from the Taking the Initiative Party. Philp is also the current Minister of State for Crime, Police and Fire.

Philp was asked why there were MPs in his own party still voting against a ban on these types of knives and what he was doing to tackle knife crime in the capital. Despite remaining silent on the first point, the MP was keen to mention that Croydon Police would benefit from increased use of facial recognition and ‘enhanced hotspot’ policing.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) after the event, Philp said four of the 75 hotspots which will receive more funding as part of the policy are in Surrey Street and Thornton Heath and would allow police to send answer in larger numbers. to these impact areas.

Surrey Street was the unfortunate scene of Croydon’s latest murder when 22-year-old Rijkaard Salu Siafa was fatally stabbed there in April. When pressed by the LDRS if he would support more CCTV in the city centre, he said: “I would support the extension of CCTV in areas such as Surrey Street and support the increased use of facial recognition to catch wanted criminals.”

Donna Murray-Turner, an active community activist and chair of the Safer Neighborhood Team for Croydon, was skeptical about how the police would be used and spoke of the systemic problems the borough faces in terms of knife crime.

Speaking to LDRS, she said: “We are witnessing the ghettoization of Croydon before our very eyes. Who will be inspired by walking through Croydon Town Centre.”

Murray-Turner, who is running against her own MP Jones for the seat of Croydon West, spoke about the difficulties facing young people in the borough. She strongly believes that racial and policing bias has a large presence in neighborhood policing and is driving young people to crime.

She told LDRS: “Sarah (Jones) once had a case, of a mixed-race grandson who was brought to the police station by his white grandfather. They lived in the leafier part of Shirley, and he was stopped three times a week.

“I took him to the quartermaster, but in the end, the grandfather went and bought an empty violin case just to make his mixed-race grandson seem more middle-class and stopped. They’re just pictures.”

Murray-Turner also asked participants to be empathetic to the cause, even if it didn’t directly affect them. During an emotional speech to the audience, she reminded attendees that knife crime “affects your house prices too”.

Early intervention was another focal point of the meeting, with a number of principals present to talk about the important role of schools. Saqib Chaudri is the principal of Oasis Academy Shirley Park, which lost two young teenagers to knife crime in 2021.

Demarie Roye, 15, and Zaian’s murders by other teenagers outside of school were six months apart. In response to these tragic events, Saqib has since placed a full-time Community Safety Officer in his school to work with young people and liaise with community groups.

He said: “There are so many good people in Croydon, it’s a shame it took a tragedy to meet them.”

Caireen Mitchell, who heads Croydon College, spoke about the threat of gang violence to young students. She told LDRS: “We have a drug gang operating outside our front door near East Croydon. “How can this happen? Sitting there is our biggest problem and it’s very difficult to work in that environment.”

These safety concerns were shared by Markieu Hayden, principal of Norbury High School for Girls. She told the camera that the parents of six children in her school do not even let their children walk home alone for fear of attack.

According to Hayden, there was an increase in knives being used by young girls for “protection” after Elianne’s murder in 2023. She said that while she was not aware of any attacks by the girls, she had since had to confiscate a number of knives from students. at her school.

The importance of early intervention was summed up by an African proverb used by several speakers during the meeting, namely: “If a child is not embraced by his village, they will burn him to feel the warmth.”

After the meeting, LDRS spoke to Otis Lawson outside Selhurst Park. Lawson, originally from Tottenham, lost his older brother Godwin to knife crime 10 years ago.

He told LDRS: “My brother was a footballer but I wasn’t as good as my brother. He was doing well, playing for Oxford United and was at the academy when he died.”

“He would dig in Oxford and come back at weekends when he wasn’t training. He just came back to the area and the childhood friends he was hanging out with had various problems in the area and he broke up a fight when he got stabbed.”

Lawson now runs his own strength and conditioning program called Elite Squad and holds informal mentoring sessions for others who need bereavement support. He told LDRS how he has been to many such meetings, but feels that people also need to take individual responsibility.

He said: “People bring their own ideologies and political views to this issue. Other people focus on things they don’t know about or get upset about certain issues.”

“If only I had taken my own path in life. I have nothing to do with the government, I am my own individual and I can make my own choices.”

After the event, Lawson joined others for the Palace For Life Foundation’s annual Cut It Out soccer tournament. The event saw teenagers from Croydon play against police officers they met in a fundraising match at the Premier League ground.

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