Virtual reality training aims to blunt knife crime

The tech will ask young people make difficult decisions around knife crime

Virtual reality headsets are to be used in a West Yorkshire training programme aimed at cutting knife crime, police have said.

The tech sessions will ask users to make decisions when faced with "serious violence", with outcomes that can then be discussed.

The headsets will be available for special sessions at schools and in other education settings.

A spokesperson said the course used the input of 1,200 young people.

Coinciding with the arrival of the Knife Angel sculpture at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, 70 partners have been trained to deliver the immersive learning package from the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership (WYVRP).

As well as schools, the headsets can be used at various knife prevention sessions in the community and are recommended for children aged 12 and older.

The Knife Angel was unveiled at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds on 1 February

WYVRP director Det Ch Supt Lee Berry said: "Capturing the attention of young people is absolutely vital to the ongoing partnership work that we are stepping up this month around the Knife Angel's residency in the city."

Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council's executive member for resources with responsibility for Safer Leeds, added: "Hosting the Knife Angel is a way to highlight the devastating impact of violence on individuals, families, and communities.

"It's vital that we, during this time, also engage with young people, and we're pleased to do so with these cutting-edge virtual reality sessions."

She added: "We are hopeful that the session will help them stop and think and that it will ultimately save lives."

West Yorkshire Police told the BBC previously that in the last five years, it had made more than 10,000 knife crime-related arrests and confiscated more than 2,500 bladed articles.