Louis-Ryan Menezes: Mother calls for tougher knife crime sentences

A mother whose 17-year-old son was stabbed to death has called for tougher punishments for knife crimes.

Louis-Ryan Menezes was attacked by Amari Smith, also 17 at the time, in Northampton in May 2018.

Smith was jailed for nine years and four months for manslaughter, later reduced to eight years, and is expected to be released in May 2022 as prisoners with fixed sentences are, by law, generally released halfway through.

Louis-Ryan's mother Cheri Curran said: "Our children are dying on the streets and nobody's doing anything about it. Children as young as eight to 12 are carrying knives. We need tougher laws, we need tougher sentencing."

A Government spokesperson said: "While those carrying knives are spending longer in jail than a decade ago, our extra 20,000 police officers and tough new sentencing laws will see more serious offenders spend longer behind bars."