Yahoo News Mums of Ava White and Brianna Ghey issue urgent knife crime warning
Three mums who all lost a child to knife crime say they feel let down by the government’s failure to act on the issue.
On tonight’s ITV Evening News, Leeann White talked about losing her 12 year old daughter Ava to knife crime. Ava was stabbed by a boy she didn’t know during the Christmas Lights switch on event in Liverpool City Centre in 2021.
Leeann was interviewed alongside two other mums whose children were also murdered with a knife - Esther Ghey and Kelly Brown.
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Individually the three mums have been campaigning for changes to sentencing, the introduction of lifesaving bleed kits and restrictions on mobile phones.
They told ITV News North of England reporter Kelly Foran that they hoped coming together would amplify their call for changes, including custodial sentences for carrying a knife.
Leeann said: “Kids are dying on our streets on a daily basis. The government needs to step up and do more. It needs to be more of a priority.
“There needs to be custodial sentences. That's the only way that change is going to happen in my eyes. I want custodial sentences for carrying a knife. I think if you’re caught with a knife, it’s a straight ten years."
Esther Ghey's transgender daughter Brianna was stabbed to death in a park in Warrington in 2023. Sir Keir Starmer referred to Esther during Wednesday night’s leaders' debate when he again accused Rishi Sunak of joking about transgender rights during a session of Prime Minister's Questions while Esther was visiting parliament earlier this year.
Esther said: “Something needs to be done. It needs to change urgently. I feel it’s our job as well…even though we’ve gone through something so tragic, we do need to do this, we do need to push this.
“I've still got the hope that we can make a difference. And whether it's the government that are making a difference or mums like us, I've got the hope that things will change. I’ve got to hope things will get better.
“Everything that we're asking for, it needs to be done and we’ll stick together, and we'll be stronger together.”
Kelly Brown, whose 16-year-old son Rhamero West was stabbed to death on his first day of college in Trafford, Manchester in 2021, said: “I feel like they're not taking it as serious as they should be. We've discussed before, they can ban these XL bullies within three months. It's taken so long to ban these knives for killing our kids.
“I feel let down. I feel like the government are not doing enough.”
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