Knife crime among young people in Bristol is 'becoming nuclear arms race’, charity warns

ITV News' Eli-Louise Wringe spoke to organisations across the city about knife crime among young people in Bristol.

A number of organisations across Bristol have signed an open letter demanding an end to knife crime as one charity warns it is coming "like a nuclear arms race".

In Bristol, the latest figures show that street-based knife crime offences have risen by 42%, from 395 in 2022 to 561 last year.

Mason Rist and Max Dixon were attacked in Knowle West on 27 January. Five people have been charged with their murder.

Just over two weeks later, Darrian Williams was stabbed in Rawnsley Park in Easton. Two teenagers have been charged with his murder.

The deaths of the three boys have led to calls for urgent action to tackle knife crime and now various local organisations have come together with one message: enough is enough.

Empire Fighting Chance, a boxing gym working with young people, is among those to have signed an open letter calling for change.

The gym’s Courtney Young said: "It is a community issue and it should be community led.

"We are the people who live in these communities day in, day out and these are the young people being sadly murdered.

"So we need to come together as a group to eradicate it. The police have a role to play in it but not as big a role as people may think.

"Stop and search is definitely not going to help in the long run. I think there needs to be education behind it and I think the community approach is the right approach to take."

For those who work with young people every day, the past few weeks have been devastating and a worrying sign of a growing problem.

Sports mentor Titus Gaunt said: "The way I see it, it's like a nuclear war so if one person has a weapon and then everyone feels unsafe so to make you feel safe everyone has to be carrying. But then it just puts people in danger at the end of the day."

Another sports mentor Jen Mendonca said: "It could be gang rivalry but we're seeing younger people who are involved. They can't trust police, that's it. They feel like they're snitching or something else."

Avon and Somerset police say they are taking action. Today, Wednesday 6 March, the force announced a ten point plan to tackle the issue of knife crime.

From more patrols in areas deemed at risk to school visits and sweeps of parks and open spaces where they think knives are being stored or discarded.

Superintendent Mark Runacres said: "I would urge people to connect in the ways that we all need to, so police, the local authorities, schools, communities, families.

"This is a problem which is so complex and is causing such issues that we need to tackle it together and I would urge people to get involved in those responses so we can achieve that."

The Peacemaker Prayer and City Patrols have also signed the open letter. They've been working here for more than 20 years.

Shanna-Lee Samuel from the group said: "The city as a whole is hurting. Obviously the people who have lost loved ones personally but the city is hurting as a whole.

"Today we're doing a static patrol just as a presence to bring that reassurance. We have the police here but we're also here to say that we care. We care for St Pauls, we care for Easton, we care for Bristol."