Bristol stabbing: Campaigner says community 'can't be broken' after teenagers killed
Watch ITV's Sabet Choudhury's interview with an anti-knife crime campaigner
An anti-knife campaigner has said the Knowle West community “can’t be broken” as she calls for “collective responsibility” to help reduce knife crime in Bristol.
Leanne Reynolds held a vigil for two teenagers stabbed to death on Saturday 27 January just after 11pm in Ilminster Avenue in Knowle West.
Victims Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were killed after, police say, they were attacked by several people who left the scene in a car.
Avon and Somerset Police has arrested four people in connection with the incident: a 44-year-old man and 15-year-old boy, a 20-year-old man and a 22-year-old man.
Leanne said better education and a "collective" responsibility is needed to help reduce knife crime in the area.
She said: "You talk to these young people and it’s constant. 'We carry knives, we need to protect ourselves' and it’s about trying to change that mindset.
"We can sit down, we can blame the authorities, we can blame the schools, but we need to do more as parents.
"Last night I told them 'watch your children, know who your children are with, make sure you are actually friends with your children’s friends' parents'.
"Some kids they’re roaming up and down and they don’t know where they are, and I appreciate that we’re all busy.
"Some mothers are bringing up children on their own but we need to take time, you need to have time, you need to listen to your children, and you need to be part of their life. I know it’s difficult but you need to know what they’re actually doing."
Leanne was also involved in the introduction of bleed kits across the city.
She said: "The first one that went up, I remember a professional and I’ll never forget it.
"He said 'one day we’ll go around and be taking them down' and that was three years ago.
"Since that day, from our city we’ve lost four people - not including two from the weekend. So from 2021 we’ve lost six young people that come from Bristol.
"It’s a no brainer - ban zombie knives, ban machetes - it’s not good enough.
"It needs to be banned, if you’re caught with a bladed article, you need some sort of punishment.
"Parents, know what your children are doing. Search their bags, search their rooms.
"Everyone needs to come together. We have to do it as a collective, we’re all responsible."
In August, the Home Office did announce that tougher measures on machetes and zombie-style knives would be introduced.
Leanne is personally motivated by the drive to reduce knife crime in Bristol and the South West as she is from Knowle West.
She said: "I get very angry that it’s happened again, very frustrated and then sad and now I’m at the stage where I’m pushing on and it’s passion.
"It has to be passion through pain and I know, I believe, that change is going to come and I am going to be part of it so I’m just going to keep pushing forward.
"We’re going to bring this community back. It’s going to come back, Knowle West.
"We’re going to stand together as a community and a city and it will come back.
"We will build it back, Knowle West can’t be broken. I come from Knowle West, I’m third generation. I’m going to bring it back."