The loved ones of murdered man Lee Turner have been out in the community raising awareness about knife crime.
Lee Turner, 33, was attacked on The Venny in Pinehurst, Swindon, on October 10, 2021 and died from a single stab wound to the chest.
Last month, Lee’s sister Jordan explained how knife crime has ruined her life, but she has turned her grief into something positive by setting up the community group Change Lives No to Knives with friend Danyelle King.
As part of National Knife Crime Awareness Week, the pair have been visiting New College campuses to discuss the consequences of carrying a knife, catastrophic bleeds and county-line crimes with young people.
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“Some people have not experienced it. Overall, it’s educational on knife crime so they’re aware of what is going on in the world, even if they have never been impacted and they may never be involved with it.
“It’s had a positive response. Someone said to me 'You’re so strong to even be standing there'. It means a lot and obviously, they’re taking in everything I’m saying, even if we can stop one person from carrying a knife, that’s preventing two families from becoming victims. Even if you change one mindset it saves two lives.”
Danyelle King added: “For us it also allows us to reflect dignity and justice for Lee’s life. We didn’t get any form of custodial sentencing, so we’re turning pain into something positive by bringing awareness and highlighting the severity of knife crime and how easily an individual can be affected by it. It’s a way of keeping everyone safe.
“It’s been very proactive throughout our presentations, we had some young people who wanted to speak to us after and it made us realise it was so worthwhile having these conversations.
"It's beneficial because the topic is there but people shove it under the carpet because they’re scared to bring it up. It was quite an eye-opener to discover that there have been a few people affected by knife crime.
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“It also allows colleges to identify things and aid their support. Young people may not have a safe person in their social circle, but there may be someone they can trust in their educational department, so it’s good that the colleges are opening their doors to bring this awareness.
Jordan and Danyelle are also speaking to offenders in prisons this month to help signpost them to rehabilitative services.
“It’s ok trying to tackle it at this end but what about those who have already committed an offence? Reducing the risk of them reoffending also reduces knife crime and the opportunity for county-line grooming", explained Danyelle.
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“It’s the perfect setting to bring further awareness. A lot of young offenders weren’t educated in the first place to understand the severity and consequences, so being able to educate them now they’re in the system to make better choices and not re-offend is a massive milestone.
“We’ve been effective. We can’t change every mindset that comes our way, but we’ve been successful so far. We only planned to go once to HMP Chelmsford and they asked if we could continue, so it’s something more consistent in their establishment.”
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