Anti-knife crime campaign relaunches

A "hard-hitting" video will be shown looking at the impact of knife crime on both the victim and attacker

An anti-knife crime campaign has been relaunched by a police force, as it revealed the weapons had been involved in six killings over the last year.

Cleveland Police said between October 2023 and last month it had received 503 reports of violence with injury that involved a knife, with 154 offences involving a person aged between 14 and 24.

Ass Ch Con Richard Baker said evidence was "clear" that a child who carried a knife was "more likely to become a victim of knife crime".

The new phase of the Blade Doesn’t Give You an Edge campaign follows a one-year-long initiative in schools.

The force said there had been a 23% reduction in knife crime and serious crime over the last 12 months.

However, it still has one of the highest knife crime rates per capita out of all the forces in the country, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A new campaign video focuses on two boys - one who is the victim of a knife attack, and the other who is the perpetrator.

It shows both before the attack and its aftermath.

ACC Baker said the video was "hard hitting" and showed how a bad decision could change young lives "forever".

On Saturday, Middlesbrough FC players wore an all-white strip at their Riverside match against Coventry City, replacing their traditional red colours, to highlight the dangers of knife crime.