Latest news with #GaryGodden
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Southport survivor's campaign for 'blunt knives' praised by Nottinghamshire police boss
Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner has echoed a Southport survivor's calls for pointed knives to be replaced with blunt ones in an effort to help combat knife crime across the nation. A dance teacher who survived the Southport knife attack, Leanne Lucas, has started a new campaign calling for pointed knives to be replaced by ones with blunt tips after being critically injured during the attack. Axel Rudakubana, 17 at the time of the attack, has been jailed for a minimum of 52 years after he carried out the murder of three young girls- Alice Aguiar, Dot Stancombe and Bebe King, in an event that shook the country. In an interview with Sky News, Leanne, aged 36, said it was the pointed tip of the knife that led to her life-threatening injuries in the attack of July 2024. READ MORE: The 85 NatWest, Lloyds, Halifax and Santander branches to close in June - with 3 in Nottinghamshire READ MORE: 'Nervous and shaking' man parked outside Nottingham takeaway with 'car full of drugs' The message of the Let's Be Blunt Campaign resonated with Nottinghamshire's PCC, Gary Godden, who stated that if blunt knives were to become the norm in UK households, it would have a "huge effect" on the number of knife crime incidents across the country. The campaign calls for a national conversation to be had about the possible transition to blunt knives, as the easy access means that life-threatening incidents such as those in Southport could be repeated, as every household has a four-inch or longer knife readily accessible. PCC Gary Godden said: "I think that knife crime is a specific challenge. Bear in mind that knife crime is generally, those involved or have had an experience with knife crime have been hurt by a knife that is four inches in length; everybody in every single household in the country has a knife that they can get access to, that is four inches long. "The challenge is how we can change perceptions and behaviour and how we approach prevention in a way that actually makes a huge difference. I have some plans in mind that I am not going to discuss today to really challenge this and make sure that Nottinghamshire is a safe place." When asked about his support for the new campaign, the PCC said: "It's really interesting. It's not something that you would have thought of two or three years ago. It's a common-sense approach to a national problem. The reality of carrying a knife is guess what, you are probably going to have it used against you or you will use it against someone else. "The effect of having blunt knives would be huge. If only we could get them into every household in the country, it would be amazing, but that will take time. I think that there are government bans on certain knives coming into place. "There will be a lot of stuff that we need to do, I have my mind set on a lot of things we need to do, that will really challenge this. At the moment, this is our biggest challenge for safety, and making sure people don't pick up knives and use them." This comes after Nottinghamshire Police has recently stepped up their response to knife crime in the city, carrying out a determined campaign to curb the increase in knife-related incidents in Nottingham's city centre, after a series of stabbings in March.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
Strategy aims to tackle violence among young people
Early intervention will be part of a strategy to tackle violence among young people, Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has said. Launching his four-year plan in Nottingham, Gary Godden said he wanted to get "further upstream" into the causes of crime. Working with other agencies, Mr Godden said police would seek to support children facing challenging homes lives, struggling with mental health issues or facing exclusion from education. The Police and Crime Plan - entitled A Safer Nottinghamshire For All - will also tackle violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour, while enhancing neighbourhood policing and improving community cohesion, he said. Mr Godden said he chose the Community Recording Studio (CRS) charity in St Ann's for the launch as it had a great reputation for supporting young people and giving them positive outlets such as film, video and music skills. "Giving young people opportunities to take part in creative activities like the ones provided here at CRS can have a real positive impact on their lives," the PCC said. The action plan is billed as multi-agency wraparound safeguarding, coordinated by the Violence Reduction Partnership. It could be triggered if children are identified as being frequently missing from home, excluded from school or have a sudden involvement or swift escalation in crime. Mr Godden said: "We have seen from recent events in the city centre that serious violence and knife crime can often involve young people, either as perpetrators or victims, so it is really important that we try to have an impact on young people's decision making as early as we can. "We need to get further upstream and support young people with a child-first approach that recognises people have different support needs and brings together partner agencies including education, health, children's services, youth justice, police and community organisations like CRS." He emphasised the police could not work "in isolation", but by working with partners could have a greater impact tackling issues like violence against women and girls, and serious violence and knife crime. Trevor Rose, chief executive of CRS, said making an early start with young people to build their trust "is of the utmost importance". "I believe 100% that the earlier the intervention the better the connection you can form with young people and the community, which means they trust us and we can support them and give them better opportunities," he said. "Their awareness of what's going on is getting younger and younger. "Young people are getting involved in situations that we don't want to hear about and we don't want to believe are even true. "I think the responsibility for us - as a community, and as parents - is that young people need greater engagement, they need greater opportunities, and not at college age or university, they need them a lot younger. "By hook or by crook, by word of mouth, by friends or association, by them even recognising us [in the street]... they need to trust, and they need to see why this is benefiting them." Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Nottinghamshire Police Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Community take stand against knife crime in city Customers don't want to come into city - jeweller 'We can't allow knife crime to be normal in city'
BBC News
21-03-2025
- BBC News
Strategy aims to tackle violence among young people in Nottinghamshire
Early intervention will be part of a strategy to tackle violence among young people, Nottinghamshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has his four-year plan in Nottingham, Gary Godden said he wanted to get "further upstream" into the causes of with other agencies, Mr Godden said police would seek to support children facing challenging homes lives, struggling with mental health issues or facing exclusion from Police and Crime Plan - entitled A Safer Nottinghamshire For All - will also tackle violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour, while enhancing neighbourhood policing and improving community cohesion, he said. Mr Godden said he chose the Community Recording Studio (CRS) charity in St Ann's for the launch as it had a great reputation for supporting young people and giving them positive outlets such as film, video and music skills."Giving young people opportunities to take part in creative activities like the ones provided here at CRS can have a real positive impact on their lives," the PCC action plan is billed as multi-agency wraparound safeguarding, coordinated by the Violence Reduction could be triggered if children are identified as being frequently missing from home, excluded from school or have a sudden involvement or swift escalation in Godden said: "We have seen from recent events in the city centre that serious violence and knife crime can often involve young people, either as perpetrators or victims, so it is really important that we try to have an impact on young people's decision making as early as we can."We need to get further upstream and support young people with a child-first approach that recognises people have different support needs and brings together partner agencies including education, health, children's services, youth justice, police and community organisations like CRS."He emphasised the police could not work "in isolation", but by working with partners could have a greater impact tackling issues like violence against women and girls, and serious violence and knife crime. Trevor Rose, chief executive of CRS, said making an early start with young people to build their trust "is of the utmost importance"."I believe 100% that the earlier the intervention the better the connection you can form with young people and the community, which means they trust us and we can support them and give them better opportunities," he said."Their awareness of what's going on is getting younger and younger."Young people are getting involved in situations that we don't want to hear about and we don't want to believe are even true."I think the responsibility for us - as a community, and as parents - is that young people need greater engagement, they need greater opportunities, and not at college age or university, they need them a lot younger."By hook or by crook, by word of mouth, by friends or association, by them even recognising us [in the street]... they need to trust, and they need to see why this is benefiting them."
