Protesters came from all over England to lay shoes outside Downing Street to represent lives lost to knife crime.
They did it to demand justice and tougher sentences in the UK after crime involving knives rose across England and Wales in 2018. In London alone, stabbings have increased by 21% this year, according to figures by the Metropolitan Police. Campaigners handed in a petition signed by more than 61,800 people calling for tougher sentences on knife crime. Amy Morgan, whose son Tyler Thompson was stabbed to death in 2016, delivered the petition and said she was ‘angry’ and ‘absolutely disgusted’ that young lives are still being taken. ‘Tyler’s killer had already been caught carrying a knife, he’d had a caution and went on a knife awareness course clearly it’s no deterrent,’ she said. ‘Offenders are getting a slap on the wrist for carrying a knife and then they go on to commit murder. ‘I see it again and again. There’s no justice, something has got to change now.’ During the protest today, demonstrators listened to bereaved family members and family members about the brutal reality of knife crime.
They did it to demand justice and tougher sentences in the UK after crime involving knives rose across England and Wales in 2018. In London alone, stabbings have increased by 21% this year, according to figures by the Metropolitan Police. Campaigners handed in a petition signed by more than 61,800 people calling for tougher sentences on knife crime. Amy Morgan, whose son Tyler Thompson was stabbed to death in 2016, delivered the petition and said she was ‘angry’ and ‘absolutely disgusted’ that young lives are still being taken. ‘Tyler’s killer had already been caught carrying a knife, he’d had a caution and went on a knife awareness course clearly it’s no deterrent,’ she said. ‘Offenders are getting a slap on the wrist for carrying a knife and then they go on to commit murder. ‘I see it again and again. There’s no justice, something has got to change now.’ During the protest today, demonstrators listened to bereaved family members and family members about the brutal reality of knife crime.