School interventions begin to 'stop kids killing kids'

Personal heartbreak is being shared with students in an effort to deter teenagers from picking up knives.

Owen Dunn was 18 when he was fatally stabbed in December 2022. A group, formed by his family and friends, now warns teenagers about the realities of violent crime.

Pupils at St Luke's Academy are one of the first schools to be visited by the group and were played footage from his funeral.

Principal Judith Buckingham said the session had strongly "resonated" with her pupils. "We don't have knives coming into school but the world they're going back out to, I think it's [carrying knives] becoming quite normalised".

Danny Hegarty and Jemma Page from Owen's World have been speaking to teenagers at St Luke's Academy

Owen Dunn's mother, Zoe Mitchell, said she "cries every day" that she delivers the session, but it gives her "hope" that perhaps it will prevent someone else having to experience losing a loved one to knife crime.

'Shock'

The gritty awareness sessions cover sentencing, exploitation, first aid and peer pressure alongside footage, photographs and recollections from those who knew and loved Owen.

Playing his funeral video had some pupils in tears but "the shock factor's needed I think," Owen's sister-in-law, Eilish Skeates said.

Owen Dunn's aunt, Gemma Page, said she hoped sharing the family story would help stop "kids killing kids"

Owen's aunt, Gemma Page, said the reason she spoke to pupils was because her nephew "was taken in the cruellest way".

She said she hoped by educating others about what Owen went through in the last six months of his life could "save lives" and "stop kids killing kids".

Anti-knife-crime campaigner and the newest member of Owen's World, Danny Hegarty, said: "Everybody deserves a second chance.

"These kids deserve a decent future.

"Not a future sat behind a steel door or left in the ground."

Owen's World group seeks to raise awareness about knife crime as part of the first step in dealing with it

One Year 9 student from St Luke's Academy said knife crime where he lived had left him feeling "confused and scared".

He spoke about knowing somebody who used to carry a knife, believing he did so for "self-defence".

The idea that "kids having nothing to do" was leading teenagers into crime, the 13-year-old said.

The principal at St Luke's Academy, Judith Buckingham, says the solution begins with raising awareness

Principal Judith Buckingham from St Luke's Academy said the session had strongly "resonated" with her pupils.

"We don't have knives coming into school but the world they're going back out to, I think it's [carrying knives] becoming quite normalised," she said.

'Not alone'

Ms Buckingham said tackling the issue started with "awareness" and "people bringing in real life experiences".

For that reason, she said the Owen's World visit had resonated with pupils and given them "a feeling of strength that they're not alone in this".

"It empowers them" she added.

Owen's World has been working with the academy to deliver stark truths about knife crime