Berkshire schoolchildren warned of 'pain' of knife crime

Dr Mark Prince received an OBE for services to tackling knife and gang crime in 2019

The father of a teenage victim of knife crime has warned schoolchildren to avoid a "trail of pain".

Kiyan Prince was stabbed to death at 15 while intervening in a school fight.

Speaking at an awareness-raising session in Sandhurst, Berkshire, his father, Dr Mark Prince, said becoming involved in a stabbing incident can happen "so quickly".

It came as Thames Valley Police launched a campaign to promote knife amnesty bins.

Dr Prince set up the Kiyan Prince Foundation to educate young people about the consequences of knife crime after the death of his son, a QPR youth footballer, in north London, in May 2006.

The club's Loftus Road ground was renamed after the charity and earlier this year Kiyan was incorporated into the Fifa 21 game.

Kiyan Prince was a QPR youth player

Speaking at the event for about 70 schoolchildren at Sandhurst Community Centre, Dr Prince asked his audience: "Are you willing to start this trail of pain? is that the legacy you want in your life?"

"Where you have a mindset of picking up a phone and picking up a knife, that's a huge problem.

"You have a mindset where young people [say] 'you shouldn't be in my area, and you should be in your area, and that give us the right to take your life, stab you and damage you' - that's why it's important now," he said.

Dr Mark Prince spoke to a group of about 70 students in Sandhurst

There have been a number of stabbing incidents involving young people in the Thames Valley, including the death of 13-year-old Olly Stephens, who was knifed in a field near Reading in January.

The week-long Operation Sceptre campaign is being used by Thames Valley Police to promote permanent knife amnesty bins.

Sgt Emma Reid said: "Education is always the best way forward.

"Previously it's always been about dealing with the results of what's happened, whereas now it's very much preventative measures and education is the perfect opportunity for that."