'I thought: He’s going to stab me, I’m going to die'

Ethan was nine when he was attacked by a pupil carrying a knife

A nine-year-old boy who made a school poster about the dangers of knife crime after being pinned down by a fellow pupil wielding a six-inch blade went on to lose one of his friends in a frenzied stabbing attack.

Seven years ago, Ethan wrote "knives cost lives" after being wrestled to the ground one lunchtime on his school playing field in Chorley, Lancashire.

His worst fears were realised in June 2023 when a 15-year-old friend was fatally stabbed in Skelmersdale.

Now 16, Ethan has relived his ordeal in the hope it will deter young people from carrying knives.

Using data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to police forces in England and Wales, the BBC can also reveal:

• In the last four academic years, police in the North West of England received 602 reports of primary or secondary pupils carrying or using blades in schools to threaten or attack

• In Greater Manchester alone, there were 400 reports including 30 involving children under 10

• Weapons used included a machete, kitchen knives, Stanley knives, pen knives, scissors and screwdrivers

• One incident, in Lancashire, involved a four-year-old boy

• On Merseyside, there were 48 serious knife offences including sexual assault and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. In one case, a teenage boy was chased and attacked with a machete

• Across England and Wales, 497 children aged under 11 were caught with bladed weapons

• A further 2,000 incidents involved 12 to 17-year-olds

The true numbers are likely to be significantly higher because only half of the police forces provided the data requested of them by the BBC.

Ethan's childhood poster warned of the dangers associated with carrying knives

Ethan was playing with a friend when a fellow pupil jumped on his back and wrestled him to the ground before pulling out a blade.

"I think it was Stanley knife," he said. "He held it right up to me. I just thought he’s going to stab me. I’m going to die. I was terrified.

"I think someone must have pulled him off me and teachers took the knife off him and let him carry on with his day.

"He was eventually suspended but let back in.

"I never went in again because my mum pulled me out of school that day.”

Ethan, who was in Year 5 at the time, said he was traumatised and struggled to eat and sleep after the attack.

He even designed a poster in the hope it would make people stop and think.

His words, printed in red ink to resemble spilt blood, read: "If anyone has a knife and you see it... run and inform someone. Be aware – knives cost lives."

Ethan says he hopes his ordeal will stop youngsters carrying knives

In January 2022 in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, a 15-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after being repeatedly stabbed in a “frenzied” attack at Walney School.

His 16-year-old attacker was originally charged with attempted murder but eventually convicted of wounding with intent and carrying a bladed article in school.

The victim’s uncle, Stephen, whose surname cannot be revealed for legal reasons, told the BBC: "This was a shocking attack.

"He chose to take a kitchen knife to school, hidden in his bag, then lunged at him in the toilets, aiming blows at his head and body.

"My nephew had to be airlifted to hospital and still lives with the trauma of what happened, yet his attacker is now out of prison. Where’s the justice in that?

"I think any knife attack in school should be a mandatory seven years. That will soon stop kids using blades.

"As it is now, the law is way too invested in the perpetrator while the victim and their families are often forgotten. That has to change."

'Unmitigated rage'

Ethan is calling for change, too.

The motor sport student became friends with Dylan Bragger at a community engineering project called Fix It.

After the 15-year-old did not turn up one night in June last year, Ethan got a call from a friend who was crying down the phone.

Ethan said: “He said Dylan had been attacked by an older man – he’d been stabbed to death.

"My heart sank. I just couldn’t believe it."

Dylan had been stabbed at least 23 times in his chest, neck, abdomen and arms in "unmitigated rage" by Felipe Figueiredo, who was looking for his wife’s stolen motorbike.

The teenager died at the scene on Digmoor Road, Skelmersdale, after what was described in court as a "grotesque level of violence".

Figueiredo, 28, was jailed for life in January.

"I was devastated," said Ethan. "He didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that. And I never thought that what I was warning against would happen to someone in my life. But it did.

"Now things have to change. And schools have a huge part to play in that."

Stabbing victim Dylan Bragger

At Audenshaw School in Manchester earlier this month, Alison Cope delivered a hard-hitting presentation to pupils.

It featured an AI version of her 18-year-old son Joshua Ribera talking about his knife murder outside a nightclub in Birmingham in 2013.

Ms Cope said: "Josh’s killer carried a knife out of fear and a minor escalation turned into a fatal stabbing.

"If young people carry knives, there’s every chance they will use them.

"And more and more kids are being exposed to violence material online, making them think the world is a scary place and that they have to protect themselves.

"I’ve been to primary schools where kids have taken in weapons because of fear [and] to show off – taking pictures of themselves with knives because that’s what they’ve seen online.

"I just find it so frustrating that a lot of schools aren't teaching pupils about the dangers of knife crime, when really it should be a compulsory part of their education."

Greater Manchester Police stressed that knife crime in the area fell 15% in the year to August 2023.

The force said it was working alongside Greater Manchester’s Violence Reduction Unit – a multi-agency approach which has seen them visit schools in the area.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]