Bristol campaigner joins calls to switch to round-ended kitchen knives
It's part of the "Let's Be Blunt" campaign founded by a survivor of the Southport attack
An anti-knife crime campaigner from Bristol is joining calls to ditch the standard kitchen knife for rounded ones.
Leanne Reynolds is attending a conference in London urging manufacturers to switch to blunt, no-point knives.
It's part of the "Let's Be Blunt" campaign founded by Leanne Lucas, a yoga teacher who survived the Southport attack.
"As the big weapons such as Zombie and Samurai swords are banned, it's so easy for you to just take a knife out of your kitchen draw and walk away with it," said Leanne Reynolds.
"This campaign is an opportunity to hand in your traditional kitchen knives and replace them with no-point knives.
"So many young people have lost their lives. We need to stand together and continue to campaign together."
Leanne Lucas began campaigning for the change in the wake of the attack in Merseyside in July last year that saw Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, murdered, and eight children and two adults hurt.
Speaking ahead of the conference she said: "As my experience demonstrates, knife crime can happen to anyone, anywhere - and that's why we all have a role to play in preventing it.
"When people ask me what they can do, my answer is simple but powerful: exchange your pointed tip kitchen knives for rounded ones.
"Pointed knives, sitting in our homes, can become weapons in the wrong hands. By making this small change, we can remove that risk and protect lives."
The Reducing Knife Harm conference is due to hear from speakers including former judge Nic Madge, co-founder of the Safer Knives Group, that also campaigns for changes to kitchen knives.
He said: "As a Circuit Judge, I tried many cases where people, often without thinking, grabbed the nearest weapon to hand - whether in a domestic argument or to take on to the street.
"My experience was that kitchen knives were the most common lethal weapon.
"Home Office statistics now confirm that, on average, two people are killed by kitchen knives every week, and that in homicides involving pointed weapons, more than half involve kitchen knives.
"It is the points of these knives that kill and cause life-threatening injuries.
"Knife crime is a complex issue with no single solution, but a simple change in kitchen knife design will save lives and reduce injuries."
The conference is taking place at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.