Latest news with #PrabjeetVeadhesa
BBC News
01-08-2025
- BBC News
New Ronan's Law named after Wolverhampton teenager fatally stabbed with ninja sword
After three years of relentless campaigning, the law that Pooja Kanda has so fiercely fought for finally comes into effect on Law, named after her son, will outlaw the manufacture, supply, sale, possession and importation of ninja for Ms Kanda, it comes several years too late. While this law may save countless lives, it cannot bring her own son back."It should have been implemented years ago. [If it had], I absolutely believe that he would still be here today." Ronan Kanda, 16, had visited a friend's house to buy a PlayStation controller in June was just yards from his home in Wolverhampton when he was fatally stabbed with a ninja sword in a case of mistaken identity."I want to say what an amazing wonderful son he was," Ms Kanda said."He deserved to live. He would have made a positive impact on this planet."Two teenagers - Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill - were convicted of his the day of the murder, Veadhesa had collected a ninja sword set and a large machete from a local post office, after buying them online using a fake name."That 16-year-old could get that [sword] just by going to the shop, while getting bread and milk," Ms Kanda said. "He had more than 25 weapons. He was ordering them and selling them to other people."It was so easy. I was shocked. It shouldn't be that easy. " A ninja sword is a large knife-like weapon between 14-24 inches (35-61cm) in length, with a straight, single-edged blade and a tanto or reverse tanto style of Friday, anyone found possessing such a ninja sword in private could face six months in prison and this could later increase to up to two years under the Crime and Policing Kanda said the introduction of Ronan's Law was a bittersweet moment, adding: "A mother had to campaign to get it done."However, Ms Kanda believes the new legislation will have a powerful impact."I know it will have a significant effect on this type of weapon being available," she new law also requires retailers to report large or suspicious knife orders to the police and carry out strict age-verification checks on sales."With online sales being monitored, tech companies being held accountable - all of this will make a huge difference," Ms Kanda added. Since her son's death, Ms Kanda said that all she could see in any direction was knife crime and youth violence, and she is urging families of young people to be vigilant."I urge all the parents to come forward to support us, we need them," she said. "To come forward and look at the signs."We need to make sure these youths that are on the path to destruction get the right support so they don't murder someone."She added: "It's not my son who brought me here, it's the murderers - they're the reason I'm campaigning."A surrender scheme ran throughout July to enable the weapons to be handed in safely. The programme saw more than 1,000 removed from the streets in that time, the a Home Office spokesperson said, making it one of the country's largest weapons surrender schemes to date. The government made a commitment to banning ninja swords in its 2024 election manifesto, as part of the Labour Party's pledge to "take back our streets" through a knife crime action Secretary Yvette Cooper later set out plans to crackdown on crime at the party's conference in 2024, when she said the government would attempt to halve knife offences in a data from the government revealed that the number of reported robberies involving a knife dropped by 6%, from 16,068 to 15,028, between June 2024 and June also announced an extra £5m would be made available for police and local authorities to try new, targeted actions on knife new money will be used for knife crime hotspots across the country, where targeted intervention tactics will be trialled, including facial recognition technology and the use of drones to support police officers on the streets. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- BBC News
Ronan Kanda's mother appointed OBE for anti-knife crime campaign
The mother of a boy stabbed to death in a case of mistaken identity has said she is "grateful" and "overwhelmed" after she was appointed an OBE for her work in trying to prevent knife Kanda, 16, was murdered with a ninja sword just yards from his home in Wolverhampton in June his death, his family began the Justice For Ronan Kanda campaign and advocated for changes in the law around the sale of Kanda said: "To be here, I had to lose my baby and my son, and it shouldn't have happened to begin with, but Ronan is making a difference... and I'm very much honoured." Remembering him as kind, loving and caring, Ms Kanda, 48, said she was driven to campaign for changes in the law after witnessing the trial of her son's killers, who had been able to buy knives online without identity said one of them had been able to get weapons "as easily as getting bread and milk".Following a five-week trial, two 17-year-olds, Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill, were sentenced in July 2023 for Ronan's court heard Ronan had suffered a 20cm-deep wound in his back and hip area, and a 17cm-deep wound in his chest. New legislation named after her son, Ronan's Law, will make it illegal to own, sell, make or import ninja swords in the UK from 1 Kanda said she and fellow campaigners had fought hard for the law to be put in place, adding: "My son would have been here if this law was here today."She said her next steps were to work with government to bring in a registration or licensing system for legally held are also plans to establish a said the campaign would not stop and more work was needed "so our children are safe and they can walk home safely to their mothers". Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
