Shropshire knife victim's mother launches amnesty campaign
The mother of a young Shropshire man who was stabbed to death has today launched an anti-knife campaign, with the message: "Don't play with your life."
Lisa McNeil is the mother of 21-year-old Danny Jones, who was killed after being attacked with a replica Lord of the Rings sword.
His attacker Richard Reece was jailed for 12 years for his manslaughter following the attack in Oswestry in April last year.
Today Mrs McNeil spoke for the first time of the pain her son's death had caused as she joined the Save A Life, Surrender Your Knife campaign, which is being led by Oswestry firm the British Ironwork Centre.
Mrs McNeil, from Chirk, said it was essential knives were removed from the streets to prevent the chance of lives being taken.
She said: "This is such as good idea. It is an important thing to happen. Anything that helps gets knives off the streets has got to be a good thing.
"This has given us something positive to focus on after what happened.
"Some of Danny's friends who have heard about the campaign have also said they are interested in helping."
Reece, 19, of Lord Street, Oswestry, was cleared of murder last year but found guilty of manslaughter after a two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
The court heard he stabbed father-of-one Mr Jones with an ornamental sword modelled on The Lord of the Rings films after an argument in a car park off Oak Street, Oswestry.
The knife campaign will see teams from the Ironwork Centre visiting areas of Shropshire as well as inner cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool to speak to street gangs and urge them to give up their weapons.
The British Ironwork Centre is creating specially designed knife banks which will be installed at key points in areas affected by knife crime.
Mrs McNeil said she had got involved after being approached by Clive Knowles, managing director of the British Ironwork Centre.
She intends to actively take part in the campaign, speaking to young people directly about the risks they take when they carry a knife.
She said: "We were thinking of doing something ourselves and when Clive approached us I just thought I wanted to get involved.
"We want to support this. We need to stop other families having to go through the pain and anguish that we have gone through."
Mr Knowles said it was vital the campaign won the support from people who had been affected by the tragic effects of knife crime, like Mr Jones' mother.
He said: "We have the backing of a number of families who have lost their loved ones to this awful crime.
"I am so pleased Lisa and her family have embraced the campaign and offered their support.
"This shows that things like this can happen anywhere and we are all working hard to get the knives off the streets."
Mr Knowles said although the campaign had not been formally launched yet, more than 30 knives have already been handed over to the company, based at Aston near Oswestry.
The donated knives will be used to fashion a large angel statue which will be placed at the company's base.
Mr Knowles said as part of the campaign Miss McNeil will be travelling to Manchester tomorrow with him to meet another family who have also been affected by knife crime.
The pair will meet the family of Fusilier David Lee Collins, who died after being stabbed outside a Cyprus nightclub.
The mother of Birmingham rapper Joshua Ribera, who used the stage name Depzman, and who died after being stabbed, will also attend the talks.
Mr Knowles said: "This is such an important campaign and it is so important to have families who have been affected by knife crime to support what we are trying to do.
"I am so pleased the mothers and the families have agreed to support us.
"This shows knife crime can happen anywhere whether it is the bigger cities or the Shropshire borders."
Mr Knowles said talks had been held with West Mercia Police and the West Midlands Police force about the campaign.
He said: "We have met senior people from West Mercia Police and they have given us fantastic support and great advice on how we should go about this campaign.
"West Midland Police have also been exceptionally helpful.
"We will focus first on Birmingham and be visiting areas of the city where knife crime is a problem and speaking to people about their use of weapons."
Mr Knowles said the new project came about after he saw a TV programme about knives amnesties.
The weapons will be used in the construction of an Angel Gabriel statue by staff at the British Ironwork Centre which will be between 18 to 24 feet high.
