Knife crime film wins national award

11:29pm Wednesday 13th August 2008

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A THOUGHT provoking film created by a group of County Durham teenagers in a bid to tackle knife crime has landed a national award.

Youngsters at the Ladder Centre youth group, in Ferryhill, produced a DVD to make young people aware of the laws on carrying a knife and the potential consequences of doing so.

Their work has earned them joint first prize in the National Crimebeat Awards, which will be presented to them at a ceremony in London next month.

The film will be shown at the event and members of the group will give a presentation about the project.

The prize includes £1,000 to put towards another project, which they hope will be two further films about anti-social behaviour and hate crime.

Earlier this year the group won the High Sheriff's Shrievelty Award from former High Sheriff of Durham Ian Dewhirst, which was presented at Durham Castle.

Kelly Holmes, a youth worker from Durham County Council who supported the young people, said: "Many of the young people didn't realise what the law actually says about carrying knives and they felt it was important to make people aware of the law and of the potential consequences of carrying a knife.

"They worked extremely hard to produce a DVD that was both informative and deliberately hard-hitting in order to get the message across.

"They're delighted to have won the National Crimebeat Award and very proud that their work has been recognised in this way."