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Leeds mum's grief is anti-knife lesson
The heartbreaking story of how a grieving mum lay sobbing on her murdered teenage son's grave has been helping educate offenders of knife crime's consequences.
Lorraine Fraser's devastation at losing son Tyrone Clarke is part of a hard-hitting government campaign.
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Offenders on the Knife Crime Prevention Programme (KCPP) yesterday told Home Office Minister David Hanson how Lorriane's story had shocked them into thinking twice about carrying a weapon.
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Mr Hanson was at the Royal Armouries to mark the programme being run by 100 youth offending teams across the country. It is targeted at young people aged ten to 17 convicted of any offence involving a knife.
Those taking part in the Leeds programme have met Lorraine to hear her describe the impact her son's death had on her and the community in south Leeds.
Tyrone was stabbed to death near his home in Beeston by a gang in April 2004.
A year later, four men were sentenced to life imprisonment for his murder.
Lorraine has since become an anti gun and knife campaigner and has taken part in a video for the programme, describing the trauma Tyrone's death had caused.
She describes how she walked barefoot from her home to Cottingley cemetery the day after Tyrone's funeral and threw herself on his grave.
She says: "I wanted to dig my son up. After the funeral it really hit home that he was never going to come back – not ever."
And she warns youngsters never to consider using a weapon to exact revenge.
"It affected the community really badly. A lot of hatred is still there but revenge just creates more revenge."
The minister met a group of young offenders from Leeds who have recently been released from prison and young offenders institutions.
They said Lorraine's story had helped them understand the consequences of using weapons and the impact it had on victims and their families.
Run by the Home Office and Youth Justice Board, the programme consists of eight modules including attitudes towards carrying a knife, the legal implications of buying knives, the impact of knife wounds including images, and talks from victims or their family.
Young people are also provided with support such as help leaving gangs and advice for managing anger.
Mr Hanson said: "This course brings young people face to face with the consequences of knife crime whatever the reason they carried the knife in the first place.
"They could be on the brink of entering serious crime or gang lifestyles, and by bringing together the police, local authorities and ex-offenders in this way we hope to prevent this happening and give these young people back their future."
Sgt Bob Bowman, Leeds youth crime reduction officer, was at the event to highlight the work that has been done to educate city pupils on the dangers of knife crime. He explained how in the last academic year 29,000 pupils had taken part in one of their programmes involving 22 safer schools police officers.
He said: "We are getting the message out that it's not cool to carry a
weapon."
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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