Meeting of minds as Croydon ponders how it can combat knife crime

By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter

South London families have called on national and local government to “speed up” the ban on zombie knives, machetes and swords, which doctors say inflict greater trauma to victims.

The teachers and parents, who met with Croydon community leaders, and politicians, also demanded greater early intervention to stem the issue which has plagued the borough.

The event, held at Selhurst Park yesterday (Monday), brought together eight families of children who lost their lives to knife crime in the capital for an unprecedented discussion on the personal impact of knife crime.

Croydon’s history of knife crime and youth violence was also the subject of intense debate.

There was unanimous agreement on the pressing need to speed up the banning of zombie knives, machetes and swords. One parent, Theresa Amiable Lina, made a passionate plea to the room and asked: “What is the purpose of these knives other than to do damage?”

Her son Zaian, 15, was stabbed to death in Ashburton Park, Croydon, in December 2021. Along with her husband Brian, she said: “If you felt it, you would empathise and show compassion.”

Knife crime campaigner Faron Paul was also in attendance. He personally collects knives from teenagers as part of his Faz Amnesty campaign, said: “The first mistake to make is by looking at a ‘problem’. It is a war.”

Zombie knives and machetes can cause greater damage than household knives, due to the use of curved and serrated edges. Chief executive of Croydon Health Services, Matthew Kershaw, said: “It is getting harder for surgeons. It is now more serious than what I have seen in my 30 years in the job.”

However, Paul also warned attendees that ‘normal’ household knives were still responsible for a large number of stabbings, due to being easily attainable and less suspicious. He therefore suggested that attaching serial numbers to each knife could be a useful solution to improve the ‘traceability’ of knives.

Croydon South candidate Chris Philp was one of four prospective MPs attending, the others being Sarah Jones and Natasha Irons, Labour’s candidates for Croydon West and East respectively, and Donna Murray-Turner of the Taking the Initiative Party. Philp is also the current Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire.

Several hotspots for knife crime have been identified, including Surrey Street, which was the unfortunate site of Croydon’s most recent knife crime murder when 22-year-old Rijkaard Salu Siafa was fatally stabbed in April.

Donna Murray-Turner, an active community campaigner and chair of the safer neighbourhood team for Croydon, was sceptical about how policing would work to eradicate the issue and spoke of the systemic problems the borough faces with regard to knife crime.

She said: “We are witnessing the ghettoising of Croydon before our own eyes. Who is going to be inspired by walking through Croydon Town Centre?”

Murray-Turner, who is running against her own MP Jones for the Croydon West seat, spoke of the difficulties young people face in the borough.

She feels strongly that race and police bias have a large presence in policing in the borough and drive young people towards criminalisation. She also asked everyone present to be sympathetic to the cause even if it didn’t directly affect them. During a rousing speech made to the room, she reminded attendees that knife crime “affects your house prices as well.”

Early intervention was another focal point for the meeting, with a number of headteachers present to speak about the important role of schools. Saqib Chaudri is the headteacher of Oasis Academy Shirley Park, which lost two young teenagers to knife crime in 2021.

The killings of Demarie Roye and Zaian by other teenagers outside school were six months apart from each other. In response to these tragic events, Saqib has since placed a full-time community safety officer in his school to work with young people and link them with community groups.

He said: “There are so many good people in Croydon, it’s a shame it took a tragedy to meet them.”

Caireen Mitchell, who heads Croydon College spoke of the threat of violence that gangs have on young students. She told the LDRS: “We have a drugs gang operating outside of our front door near East Croydon.

“How can this happen? That sitting there is our biggest problem and it is very difficult to operate in that environment.”

Markieu Hayden, headteacher of Norbury High School for Girls, told the room how parents of six form children at her school don’t even let their children walk home alone out of fear of attack.

According to Hayden, there was a spike in knives being used by young girls for ‘protection’ after the murder of Elianne Andam last year. She said that while she’s not aware of any attacks by girls, she has since had to confiscate a number of knives from students at her school.

The importance of early intervention was summarised by an African proverb used by several speakers during the meeting, which is:  “If a child is not embraced by its village, they will burn it down to feel its warmth.”

Pictured top: Families come together to share their experiences and views about knife crime (Picture: Harrison Galliven)