Olly Stephens: Grieving dad welcomes Idris Elba knife campaign

Olly Stephens was stabbed to death in Reading in 2021

The father of a schoolboy stabbed to death over a social media dispute has welcomed Idris Elba's call to ban the sale of "zombie" knives and machetes.

Stuart Stephens's 13-year-old son Olly was fatally wounded after being ambushed in a Reading park in 2021.

Mr Stephens met Luther star Elba at a Don't Stop Your Future campaign event, aimed at reducing the number of young people losing their lives

The Home Office said it was giving police more power to seize weapons.

It said bans on so-called zombie and cyclone knives were already in place "and work is under way to extend this to include zombie-style machetes".

Zombie knives are defined as weapons that have "a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting they are used for violence".

Mr Stephens has previously successfully campaigned for the Online Safety Bill, which aims to make the internet safer for children.

"We took on the Online Safety Bill and that's now law - not a lot of people know that, even Idris was surprised," he said.

Idris Elba stands in front of a display of clothing representing individual victims as he highlighted an anti-knife crime campaign

Mr Stephens added: "What we want is to have cohesion, cooperation and to work together.

"If we can pull all this together we'll stand more of a chance of achieving something.

"There are many many people in our position that feel the need to do something.

"To have Idris spearhead this campaign was a god send really."

Mr Stephens met actor Idris Elba as they campaigned against knife crime together near Parliament

Olly had been lured by a 13-year-old girl to Bugs Bottom Field, near his Emmer Green home, before being stabbed by two 14-year-old boys he had been in dispute with on social media.

Both boys were found guilty of murder, receiving custodial sentences of 13 and 12 years, while the girl admitted manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in custody.

Elba, 51, is releasing a single, Knives Down, in support of his Don't Stop Your Future campaign.

The track is about his frustration with the government for what he perceives as their inaction on knife crime.

Campaigners have said it is still too easy to buy zombie knives

In a statement released on Monday, a Home Office spokesperson said the UK "has some of the toughest laws in the world to tackle knife crime".

They added: "Hospital admissions for young people with serious knife injuries are down over a quarter and overall knife crime is down 7%, and we will not hesitate to do more to keep our streets safe.

"That is why through the Criminal Justice Bill, we will give the police more powers to seize dangerous weapons and increase prison sentences for anyone caught with a knife."

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