Families 'hold back tears' at knife crime summit

The families of knife crime victims "fought back the tears" at a summit aimed at bringing people together to tackle the issue.

The anti-knife crime summit, which took place on Friday, was organised by Owen's World, a community group formed following the death of 18-year-old Owen Dunn who was stabbed in Swindon in December 2022.

It was attended by families, groups and charities from across the UK. Owen's World CEO, Joanne Davis, said it was a "powerful" experience to get everybody together.

Adele Cook, whose husband, James, died on 1 May after being stabbed, said "none of us should be here", but that "we do need to make a difference".

It was the organisation's first annual summit in the town and was also attended by local MPs, Swindon Borough Council and the emergency services, including Wiltshire Police and South Western Ambulance Service.

Adele Cook's husband died on 1 May. She has since formed Cookie's Crusaders to help her three teenage daughters deal with their grief

Ms Cook travelled from Newark-on-Trent near Nottingham and said listening to the stories of all the people who had attended left her "fighting back the tears".

"That scream that she did when she dropped to the floor will live with me for the rest of my life," added Ms Cook, describing the reaction of one of her three teenage daughters the night she told them their dad had died.

Following her husband's death, Ms Cook founded Cookies Crusaders to provide bleed kits, educate younger generations and "continually fight against knife crime".

Brandon Byrne, 22, of Winston Court, Newark, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Cook and another charge of possessing an offensive weapon in public. His trial at Nottingham Crown Court is due to start in November.

Martin Cosser formed the charity Charlie's Promise after his son was stabbed and killed

Martin Cosser, from West Sussex, lost his 17-year-old son Charlie after he was fatally stabbed at a party in 2023 and has since founded the charity Charlie's Promise.

The night Charlie was killed Mr Cosser said there were "missed opportunities".

Mr Cosser said his son's murderer was heard earlier that evening talking about a "shank", adding he "was known to carry a knife".

"If somebody had taken knife crime seriously that night... my little boy would still be alive, that's the reality," he said.

Charlie's killer, Yura Varybrus, is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

The presentation given by Mr Cosser featured family footage from the time of his death.

Graham Dunn, Owen Dunn's father, said it was "tough" to listen to, but that it was good that people had come together to make change.

Campaigners from Gloucestershire, Kent, London, Nottingham, Somerset, West Sussex and Swindon were at the event

Others that also attended the summit included:

• Patrick Green, the CEO at the Ben Kinsella Trust. Ben was 16 when he was murdered as he celebrated finishing the last of his GCSEs

• Alan Bacon, from Maidstone, whose mum Tracey was stabbed and killed by his father and has since founded the charity No Point Knives

• Swindon's Jordan Turner and Danyelle King - who founded Change Lives no to Knives after Jordan's brother, Lee Turner, was stabbed and killed nearly four-years-ago

• Kay White, from Somerset, who survived a stabbing in 2015

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, praised the Dunn family for bringing "so many people together", adding "the solution to knife crime has to be a collective response".

He said it is "critical" that Wiltshire Police work in partnership with community groups and other services adding this is why he "thoroughly endorses Chief Constable, Catherine Roper's, emphasis on community policing and having neighbourhood policing teams who are fully integrated in their patch".

He said community policing enables officers to "build trust and confidence".

"That's how we get the intelligence so we can be more preventative in targeting scarce resources," added Mr Wilkinson.

Ms Davis said it was an "eye-opener" to hear the stories of those who came to the summit adding "we all want the same outcome, we all have the same cause, to get everybody together to help each other is really powerful".

Owen's World said it is working towards its second anti-knife crime summit which will be held in September 2026.