Dad whose son was stabbed to death at West Sussex party says education is key in tackling knife crime
17-year-old Charlie Cosser was murdered in Warnham in 2023.
A dad who has dedicated his life to tackling knife crime after his son was stabbed to death at a West Sussex party says cracking down on the issue starts with education.
It's after the Government announced that tech companies and individual executives will face being collectively fined up to £70,000 each time a post relating to knife crime is not removed from their sites.
It's an expansion of a previously announced plan to fine individual tech bosses £10,000 when their platform fails to remove content linked to knife crime - and will now issue additional fines of up to £60,000 to a company itself each time it doesn't remove individual posts.
The Home Office says the sanctions are part of plans to combat content that advertises illegal knives and other offensive weapons to young people, as well as glorifying or inciting violence.
Martins son Charlie Cosser died after being attacked at a house party in 2023. The court heard how the 17-year-old from Milford, was stabbed in the chest at an outdoor event called 'BalFest' - attended by around 100 people at a farmhouse in Warnham on 23rd July 2023.
Charlie died two days later.
Martin set up Charlie's Promise in his sons memory - which is dedicated to helping the fight against knife crime in Surrey and across the UK - he says he's hoping his dedication will deter people from carrying a blade.
Martin added: " Please, please, please - talk to your children. Open up lines of conversation and have that dialogue."
"It's not about smothering your children, it's about loving your children. But it's about understanding where they're going what they're doing, and who they're mixing with."
"Before we switched off his life support machine, I made the most important promise of my life. I promised my little boy, that I would spend the rest of my life education young groups of people of the dangers and immeasurable impacts of knife crime.
"If it can happen to by little boy, who wouldn't have had an argument with anybody - let alone a fight - it can happen to anyone."
"One decision, one moment in time causes devastation and destruction. but I will not let Charlie's life and death be in vain."
"There are a lot of families out there that are suffering and struggling that maybe don't have a voice - I speak for all of them as well , because unless you've had a child murdered, you don't understand it. It's a very lonely place for a parent."
Crime and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said: "The kind of content that young people scroll through every day online is sickening and I will not accept any notion that restricting access to this harmful material is too difficult.
"Our children need more from us. That is why we are now going further than ever to hold to account the tech companies who are not doing enough to safeguard young people from content which incites violence, particularly in young boys.
"Curbing the impact of this kind of content will be key for our mission to halve knife crime, but more widely our Plan for Change across Government to do more protect young people from damaging and dangerous content."