Bristol stabbing: Teen knife deaths 'a disaster for city'

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said he shared the fear and concern people were feeling

The Mayor of Bristol has said "we need to take our city back", after a third teenager died from stab wounds in the city within three weeks.

Two boys, both aged 15, have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old boy in Bristol on Wednesday.

It comes after Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were killed on 27 January.

Marvin Rees said the rise in knife crime in part of Bristol was "a disaster for the city".

"It is not that every part of the city is in a constant state of threat," Mr Rees added.

"We have had an increase in a specific area within Bristol, which is east central, so we have got to be careful that this is not an all-consuming phenomenon in the city.

"It is in a very particular part."

'Sober conversations'

The mayor, who is a father-of-three, said he had spoken with his children about the issue and told BBC Radio Bristol his eight-year-old daughter had "expressed her own fears" about "what could happen to people she loves".

He added: "Another young life lost. More parents who won't have their children coming home.

"We do need to have very sober conversation with them... about being wise.

"I just want to assure people that we absolutely understand the fears and concerns. I share them."

A teenager was fatally attacked in Bristol's Rawnsley Park on Wednesday

Avon and Somerset Police is launching a new operation to tackle knife crime, including having more police on the streets, and the mayor explained agencies "are working together incredibly effectively".

Mr Rees said they would be carrying out work in the coming weeks to "really grab a hold of our city and make it as safe as it needs to be for us to live here as flourishing human beings".

However, he said it was a "complex challenge".

"What we can't do is allow it to take us over. We need to take our city back. We need to get our young people back," he added.

Mark Shelford said messaging about the danger of knives "isn't getting through"

Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Shelford said knife crime was an issue "we really need to get to grips with".

"As a dad, I am deeply, deeply saddened by another senseless death of these young children, which is so unnecessary.

"The grief that must be felt by those families of the boys, and those loved one and the people they were at school with," he added.

Mr Shelford told BBC Radio Bristol that the lives of perpetrators of knife crime were "ruined as well".

"I've asked the Chief Constable to look at all practical options, leaving everything on the table, to work with the communities about an enhanced set of operations over the next few weeks," he said.

Forensic teams searching an area near Rawnsley Park

Mr Shelford also hopes to bring in academics and psychologists to "try to understand the psychology behind why these children are carrying knives".

"Parents, you need to have that conversation with your children, you need to check whether they have got weapons or not, and if your children are out you need to understand where they are," he added.

The commissioner urged anyone with information on the recent incidents to pass it on to the police or anonymously to Crimestoppers.