AS I sit down to write this, my heart aches with a familiar pain, a pain that has never truly subsided since that fateful day in 2008 when my brother Ben was brutally murdered.
He was just 16 when he was stabbed to death.
On Tuesday, another innocent life was taken in Croydon, a 15-year-old girl, her dreams and potential destroyed by the relentless scourge of knife crime.
How does it make me feel?
Devastated, angry and frustrated, but also driven to keep fighting against this epidemic that’s plagued our country for far too long.
The impact of this tragedy on Elianne Andam’s family and friends is immeasurable.
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I know first-hand the agony they are experiencing.
It’s a pain that doesn’t fade with time and it’s a wound that never truly heals.
My own family, 15 years after losing Ben, still bears the scars of our loss.
Every milestone, every family gathering, every momentous occasion is tinged with the heartbreaking reality that Ben isn’t there.
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The statistics are stark, and they tell a chilling story.
In the last 15 years, 1,010 young people under the age of 24 have been stabbed to death (up to March 2022).
That’s 1,010 futures ended, 1,010 families shattered and 1,010 communities left grieving.
Even more disturbing is the fact that there has been a 29 per cent increase in the number of young people murdered with a knife or sharp object since 2008, the year Ben died.
There were 50,489 incidents of knife crime recorded by police in the year to March 2023, a five per cent increase on the previous year and up a shocking 75 per cent in the last decade.
In the 12 months to March 2022, there were 282 murders involving a blade or sharp instrument in England and Wales — the highest total since 1946.
Of those, 99 were under the age of 25 and 13 were under 16.
These numbers are not just statistics — they represent lives lost, dreams shattered and a society failing its youth.
So, why is knife crime spiralling out of control? It’s a complex issue with no easy answer.
One of the contributing factors is the ease with which young people can access deadly weapons like zombie knives.
They have been a menace on our streets for years and the ease with which anyone can buy one, with no age verification or checks, is an enormous failure of government.
Our laws must evolve to keep up with the changing landscape of weapons and violence.
Deadly weapons
But beyond the availability of weapons, there are deeper issues at play.
Many young people feel compelled to carry knives for a variety of reasons.
Some do it out of fear for their safety, believing if others have a weapon, they too need a weapon to protect themselves.
Others may be influenced by peer pressure, or a misguided sense of status and power associated with carrying a weapon.
We must address these underlying factors and reach out and support young people.
It is essential to recognise that knife crime, like any societal problem, cannot be addressed by a quick-fix solution.
Whether it be through education, intervention, building relationships, fostering a safe environment, changing policy or advocating for change, we all have our part to play.
The Ben Kinsella Trust is dedicated to the mission of ending knife crime.
Our work focuses on education and awareness, reaching young people, schools and parents and carers to educate people about the devastating consequences of knife crime.
In the 15 years since my brother’s tragic death, it’s disheartening to see so little has changed.
Knife crime continues to escalate, claiming the lives of more young people every day.
To the family of Elianne Andam and all families who have experienced the pain of losing a loved one to knife crime, I offer my deepest condolences.
Your pain is our pain, and your grief is our motivation to keep fighting.
On this page are 12 other youngsters stabbed to death in London this year.
We cannot afford to let more lives be lost.
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It’s time for all of us to come together and demand meaningful change from our leaders.
For more information go to the Ben Kinsella Trust.
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