THE mother of a man who was stabbed to death with a samurai sword is calling for a law to regulate the sale of dangerous weapons.

Barbara Dunne said she believed there should be controls on the sale of knives and other sharp objects.

Her son Robert was murdered, only yards from his home in the West Lane area of Middlesbrough in January when he was stabbed with a samurai sword.

On Tuesday, at Teesside Crown Court, his killer, Jason Kelly, admitted murdering the father-of-one and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Mrs Dunne said: "These type of swords are meant to be ornamental, yet they have been proved to have a razor edge blade. How can people get away with selling them?

"I think there should be a law on selling weapons like that, with perhaps some sort of licence."

Mr Dunne was described in court as a vigilante who was not averse to taking the law into his own hands, patrolling the streets carrying a baseball bat.

The murder stunned the close-knit community of West Lane and, six months later, flowers are still left outside the post office where the incident took place.

Mrs Dunne said she was angry when she heard the way Robert, 31, was described in court.

She said: "To listen to them you would think he was trouble, but he was not. He was just a typical lad who stuck up for his family.

"He was not perfect, but nobody is. I brought him up to respect people and to know the difference between right and wrong.

"We have been left without a huge part of our lives, and while his killer is able to still walk about and breathe, all we have left of Robert is memories and a slab of marble.

"We have lost a ray of sunshine whilst Liam has lost his dad and will eventually have to be told the truth about what happened. How do you explain that to a child?

"Robert's death has left a lot of people heartbroken, not just us his family, but all his friends and acquaintances, and I think something should be done to prevent another tragedy happening like this."