Joe Whitchurch: Medical kits set up in town where teenager was killed

Joe Whitchurch died in hospital on 29 December, three days after being stabbed

Four specialist medical kits - designed to be used on stabbing victims - have been installed in a town where a teenager was murdered.

Last week Jake Rollinson, 20, was found guilty of killing Joe Whitchurch, 16, at an address in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, in 2020.

The "bleed kits" contain dressings and a tourniquet to help stop blood loss.

Mr Whitchurch's mother, Lisa Kilkenny, said she was also setting up a group to support concerned parents.

The kits were installed across the town centre on Saturday after a fundraising campaign.

Jurors were told Rollinson scared and threatened Mr Whitchurch

Nottingham Crown Court heard Rollinson stabbed the 16-year-old in the early hours of 26 December after a 24-hour drink and drugs binge.  Mr Whitchurch died three days later at the Queen's Medical Centre.

Ms Kilkenny said Nottinghamshire Police had done "an amazing job", but she now wanted to ensure more work was done in the community to stop another life being lost.

She is setting up Joe's World, an organisation aiming to bring concerned parents together and organise marches that show the area stands united against carrying weapons.

"We now need to stop this ever happening again. I am hoping we can do a knife crime walk in Stapleford," she said.

"There is so much knife crime at the minute. I see it on the news all the time.

"It affects everyone, and your lad could be out in the town, and it just happens."

Broxtowe Borough Council said it had plans to install better lighting and mobile CCTV cameras at Hickings Lane Recreation Ground, which is a hotspot area for drugs and anti-social behaviour.

Independent councillor Richard MacRae, who covers Stapleford North for Broxtowe Borough Council, said: "Drugs are a big problem, and it is not just starting to happen. It has been going on for years.

"We can't stick our heads in the sand.

"Parents need to talk to their kids and schools need to accept there is a problem."

Rollinson and Lorna Richardson, 25, of Blake Road, Stapleford, who pleaded guilty to committing an act or series of acts with the intent to prevent the course of public justice, will be sentenced at a later date.

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