Kent campaigner meets with minister to call for safer knife sales
Alan Bacon from 'No Point Knives' has met with the Minister for Crime and Policing
Yesterday afternoon Alan Bacon, Maidstone-based campaigner behind 'No Point Knives' met with Crime and Policing Minster Sarah Jones to discuss the dangers of unsafe knife sales in shops.
Talking to Hits and Greatest Hits Radio Kent about the meeting he told us he felt confident in the discussion:
"Sarah Jones really listened to what we have to say. She took it on board.
"She's trying to bring in licencing for retailers at the moment, but it's a little way off. It didn't make it to the King's Speech and it's just come off the consultation now.
"I went to meet her because at the moment we've got a verbal agreement for retailers.
"They've got to try and sell knives in a safe way. And I don't think it's up to speed, it needs to be sorted out. So I proposed what I'm calling Tracy's Law, where knives must be sold from a cabinet or behind a counter. And that needs to happen in every retailer."
Tracy's law is named after Bacon's mother, Tracy Goodwin, who lost her life in a stabbing incident.
On the importance of government minsters listening to campaigners he added:
"Oh, it's massive. They have to listen to us, really.
"They've got a big job to do. So it helps for us guys to be out there having inspections.
"I do inspections of the supermarkets. So she's now able to look over them."
On his findings he said:
"It was great feedback.
"She was unaware that certain ones were bucking a trend and not doing what the voluntary agreement said.
"Sarah Jones kind of said, 'right, we've got to get these ones that haven't signed or are doing the wrong things around the table and we will talk to them and push them in the right direction.'
When asked what it would mean to him if the changes he was pushing for were implemented by the minster in the future he replied:
"First of all, relief, it's been over 10 years campaigning.
"It's been 11 years since I lost my mum to domestic violence.
"So it's nice that it happened, but it also means that I'm right to do what I'm doing. They're listening, people are listening.
"Lots of people I come to say, 'Well, why do knives need points on the end?' They don't understand.
"And that was the question that started all off for me.
"So yeah, I'm happy that this is going in the right direction and we'll continue until I go into every supermarket and there's either no knives there, or they're in a locked cabinet or they're behind the counter."