'Nine-year-olds carry knives, it's got to stop'

Ronan Kanda, here pictured with his mother, was stabbed to death in Wolverhampton last year in a case of mistaken identity

Primary school-aged children are carrying and showing off knives as if they are a new pair of trainers, a campaigner has said.

Malachi Nunes, who runs a mentoring scheme in the West Midlands, said for some children, having a knife represented a "kill or be killed" mentality.

"Young kids aged nine, 10, 11, 12 shouldn't be saying that. It's not a movie," he said.

The government announced in August it was planning to close a loop-hole and ban machetes and all so-called zombie knives, as well as give police more powers to seize blades.

However, critics have said it does not go far enough and should also make online sales illegal.

Malachi Nunes said one nine-year-old said he carried a "rambo knife" because he feared reprisals from gangs

Initially popularised by zombie films and characterised by both plain and serrated cutting edges, as well as holes in the blade and often multiple spike-like points, the government said zombie knives had "no practical use", other than a role in street violence.

Mr Nunes's job is to change the mentality of those carrying knives.

He runs Ambitious Lives, a scheme funded by the National Lottery and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.

He said one nine-year old who had been referred to him said he carried a "rambo knife" when he left the house because his brother was in prison and he feared being killed by local gang members.

He is not alone. Mr Nunes said he had seen an increase in the past year in the number of primary school age children admitting to carrying knives.

Rise in knife crime

Figures have similarly revealed a big increase in the number of teenagers being sucked into knife crime in the West Midlands Police force area.

New figures, supplied exclusively to the BBC, showed 565 young people aged 17 or under were arrested on suspicion of knife-related crimes between January and 5 September.

The number of under 18s arrested for such crimes rose by 56% between 2019 and 2022.

Overall, the area covered by West Midlands Police has the highest rate of knife crime in England, including London.

A ban on so-called zombie knives is being extended, the government said, to close a loophole

For Mr Nunes reversing that trend is a matter of changing one mind at a time.

"I tackle it individually and educate them on why they shouldn't carry a knife, what are the long-term effects," he said.

"Who's going to be there for you when you get arrested and do 20 years in jail, for killing someone out of fear? You're going to regret that every single day."

He is not alone, however. Abdul-Rahman Ahmed is one of many similar mentors working in the area and understands exactly the issues facing many teenagers.

Now 19, he said he had a trouble-free upbringing in Alum Rock, Birmingham, until he started secondary school.

By the age of 13, he had got in with the wrong crowd, he said, and began carrying knives and guns.

"I got involved in drugs, gangs, getting expelled from school, assaulting a teacher," he said, and even tried to kill himself.

He eventually turned his life around, and now works with young people to educate them about the dangers of knife crime.

'Want to show off'

Mr Ahmed and Mr Nunes both cited the influence of social media, music videos and films that glamorise the carrying of knives and guns.

"Many people in music videos are carrying weapons. They've got the best reputation, they're driving fast cars," Mr Ahmed said.

"Many people who carry knives are doing so because they want to show off, and eventually that becomes toxic."

Mr Nunes added: "When they're [young people] going into Whatsapp groups and Snapchat groups, they have a little argument, and someone in the group will say, 'when I see you in the street I'm going to shank you up [stab you]' - that person is immediately in fear.

"So he's going to be thinking to himself, 'I need to carry a knife, I don't want this person to kill me'."

Abdul-Rahman Ahmed said he had carried knives and guns as a teenager, before turning his life around

Some teenagers are even making money out of buying blades online and selling them on to their peers.

Sixteen-year-old Ronan Kanda was stabbed to death in Wolverhampton in June 2022 in a case of mistaken identity.

The murder trial heard one of his killers just hours earlier had collected a ninja sword set and a machete from a post office after buying them online with a fake name, intending to sell them on.

Ronan's family are spearheading the campaign to ban online sales of knives.

More severe sentencing

In response, the Home Office said: "Every life lost to knife crime is a tragedy, and that is why we will be banning the sale and possession of zombie style knives and certain machetes, and introducing additional powers for the police to seize knives.

"Alongside outlawing these blades, we are also make sentencing more severe to ensure offenders face the punishments they deserve, and lives will be saved."

Simon Foster, the Labour West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, said he was "committed to constant and unremitting action to prevent, tackle and reduce knife crime, to protect people and save lives".

Ambitious Lives is one of several projects the PCC office funds working on prevention and "addressing the underlying causes of crime".

Mr Foster added that teams had delivered education in schools to 70,000 young people.

Other schemes, he said, had seen youth workers placed in A&E departments and custody centres, and a community initiative working with young people to lead them away from gang related activity.