Teesside anti-knife campaigner: 'More needs to be done than banning knives'
Ninja swords are banned from today
A Teesside anti-knife crime campaigner says more needs to be done than just banning types of knives.
From today, it is illegal to have, sell, make or import ninja swords.
Theresa Cave lost her 17 year-old son, Christopher, in 2003 in Redcar when he was murdered in a knife attack.
She said: "Until they start putting sentences that fit this crime, nothing's going to change. It's been promised and promised year in and year out. It's not big news is it? Yes, take the swords off the market but stop going on about banning knives and banning swords, they're going to get them either way. It doesn't matter what you do, they're going to get them. Get them all off the market.
"It's education, education, education. Give these kids something to look forward to, give them a future, change their avenues, give them places and people who believe in them who will take them on and won't just put them on paper and tick a box, because we've seen that one.
"Look at these kids on a grassroots level and get them sorted. Get some more funding out for people like us because we're doing it for nothing, with nothing, and it's getting more difficult every day.
"All you're getting now is cautions, you're getting knives taken off you or you're getting a tag for a month or two and that's it. Until they make examples of people, and it won't take a lot, and give them a sentence that fits the crime, make them do the sentence, and others will see they will go to jail, they will have to do sentence in full and they'll stop doing it.
"They don't want to be throwing their lives away thinking 'oh I won't definitely go to jail if I do this' because there's not one single deterrent. Bring me a deterrent on paper that Cleveland has got, that England has got, on knife crime and sentencing that fits the crime and I'll take my hat off because there isn't any.
"Every young person in this country is precious. Every young person is our future generation and they've got to know that there's people out there who do believe in them, who don't judge them and want to help them, and if they're being bullied into carrying knives or pressured into anything they don't want to be doing, there's organisations like ours that they go to and say 'can you help me?' And they will be helped."
You can contact and find out more about The Chris Cave Foundation on their website.