Grieving parents, high ranking police officers, educators and senior council officers have vowed to work together as part of a fresh forward-thinking drive to reduce the risk of further fatal stabbings on North East streets.

An agreement was reached to help create a wide-ranging campaign to teach young people about the potentially deadly consequences of carrying a blade at the inaugural meeting of the North East Knife Crime Taskforce.

Hosted by the Northern Echo at County Hall in Durham, the organisation was formed as part of the newspaper’s ongoing campaign to tackle the problem following the shocking deaths of several teenagers in spate of senseless stabbings in recent years.

Read more: Open letter to Prime Minister for action on knife crime

The Northern Echo: The first meeting of the taskforce was held at County Hall in Durham The first meeting of the taskforce was held at County Hall in Durham (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

The aim is to address the root causes of children carrying knives with preventative measures and effective intervention strategies to make North East communities a safer place to grow up.

Editor of The Northern Echo, Gavin Foster, who chaired the meeting, said: “The first taskforce meeting has been hugely productive and was about getting everyone here today to create ‘one voice’.

“We are getting everyone who can effect real change around the table to co-ordinate that single message.

“Key to today has been those mostly affected by knife crime, the victims and their families, and it is about how we have learned from the messages they had and how we take those messages to people to work collaboratively so we can prevent such tragedies from happening again.

“Hopefully this is the start of that process and hopefully we can do just that.”

Read more: Northern Echo proposes North East Knife Crime Taskforce

The North East Knife Crime Taskforce is an open forum to enable organisations involved to share information, expertise and resources with the common purpose of stopping young people from using knives as weapons.

The forum discussed the damaging impact of social media, how knives can be glamorised and how some young people carry them for security in the mistaken belief it will make them safer.

This month 15-year-old Leighton Amies was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years for the murder of Tomasz Oleszak in October 2022.

The fatal stabbing of Gordon Gault, 14, in Newcastle, last November remains under investigation with no-one charged despite 20 arrests.

And next month a 16-year-old boy in due to stand trial accused of the murder of 15-year-old Holly Newton in Hexham in January.

The Northern Echo: Clockwise, from top right, Gordon Gault Tomasz Oleszak, Connor Brown and Jack WoodleyClockwise, from top right, Gordon Gault Tomasz Oleszak, Connor Brown and Jack Woodley (Image: Contributors)

The taskforce meeting was attended by Tanya Brown, whose son Connor died aged 18 following a fatal stabbing in Sunderland in 2019, and is now campaigning for action full time in his memory.

She said: “The first meeting has been very informative and there were lots of people from various organisations saying different things.

“We hope that by working collaboratively together we can get stronger outcomes regarding knife crime and antisocial behaviour.

“With these stronger connections we have a stronger voice.”  

The Northern Echo: Tanya Brown with husband Simon at the meeting Tanya Brown with husband Simon at the meeting (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

The taskforce is supported by Zoey McGill, whose son Jack died aged 18 after a gang attack in Houghton-le-Spring in October 2021 left him mortally wounded and veteran campaigner Theresa Cave, from Redcar whose 17-year-old son Chris died in June 2003 while protecting friends from a group of youths.

The Northern Echo intends to have a section of its website dedicated to the taskforce with useful information and tools for organisations involved in working with young people to combat the issue.

The aim is to include contact details, articles about how to access funding and success stories on projects taking place in the North East with downloadable teaching materials that can be used classrooms, and in youth and community centres.

The Northern Echo: Delta North principal Paul Hillary, left, with John Holden, head of Cleveland's Violence Reduction UnitDelta North principal Paul Hillary, left, with John Holden, head of Cleveland's Violence Reduction Unit (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Paul Hillary, principal of Delta North, an alterative education school in Consett, said: “Coming from an education background, and working with some of the most vulnerable young people in the county, I can absolutely see the need to create an appropriate campaign that targets young people with the right messages on the right platforms.

“I know there is some incredible work happening out there in smaller pockets and can see the need to collate this to create something that all schools can access as a curriculum resource that is appropriate in different key stages.

“The statistics locally are frightening and I know education is key, finding the right way to approach that is going to be vital. I'm extremely excited to be able to be involved in this.”

The Northern Echo: Gavin Foster chairs the first meeting of the North East Knife Crime Taskforce Gavin Foster chairs the first meeting of the North East Knife Crime Taskforce (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

The taskforce initiative has won the cross-party support of Police and Crime Commissioners and MPs across the region including Dehenna Davison, Peter Gibson and Andy McDonald.

Durham City MP Mary Foy, who was at the meeting, said: “Far too many people in our region are being cruelly robbed of their future by mindless knife crime. It is an utter tragedy.

“That is why I’m fully behind the Northern Echo’s campaign to combat the causes of knife crime in our communities.

“I think the North East Knife Crime Taskforce offers a real opportunity to bring voices in our region together and ensure MPs can take both the problems and potential solutions to Westminster and raise with the Government directly.

“We must endeavour to ensure words lead to action before another life is lost.”

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The Northern Echo: Tony Kearney from Durham Constabulary explains his view on getting the tone of the message rightTony Kearney from Durham Constabulary explains his view on getting the tone of the message right (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

The meeting was attended by Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Ashton, from Durham Constabulary, Inspector Michael Sammut, the force lead for Operation Sceptre as well as communications manager Tony Kearney.

Claire Sills was there from the Northumbria violence reduction unit along with her Cleveland counterpart John Holden, and Jeanne Trotter from the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, Joy Allen's office.

Ms Allen said: "I am pleased to be supporting this joint commitment to raise the profile and highlight the dangers of carrying knives for young people, victims and their families.

"Although we are extremely fortunate that levels of knife crime across County Durham and Darlington are low, this is an issue that I am keen to support due to the devastating effects of such crimes across the wider North East area and nationally.

"I am keen to maintain and promote the excellent prevention work which is carried out by the force and our partner agencies in County Durham and Cleveland, as well as learning from the experiences of our neighbouring violence reduction units in Northumbria and Cleveland."

The Northern Echo: The meeting was held at County Hall in Durham on Friday morning The meeting was held at County Hall in Durham on Friday morning (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Northumbria PCC Kim McGuiness said: “The youth work, the interventions, the education and crucially the wide family support is all such important prevention work we are delivering and we want to deliver more.

“We have to reach kids with the right messages and the right opportunities.

“We have to do all we can to keep our communities safe and prevent any more lives being lost to the evils of knife crime here in the North East.”

The Northern Echo: It is hoped the meeting will enable groups and organisations to work closely together to tackle the problem of knife crime It is hoped the meeting will enable groups and organisations to work closely together to tackle the problem of knife crime (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

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During the meeting, Pauline Bartley from St John Ambulance gave a presentation about the charity’s Young Responder sessions in schools across the region where pupils are given first aid training on how to deal with a stabbing.

She said: "St John Ambulance is keen to work with the North East Knife Crime Taskforce. 

"Listening and meeting with so many different stakeholders at its first meeting, including parents of teenagers lost to street violence, it is clear if we work together much more, we can achieve greater support for young people and their communities.

"We want Young Responders to make an impact and through education and training throughout the North East, reach as many young people as possible. First aid awareness is vital and can save lives."

Joanne Waller, head of community protection services at Durham County Council, said: “Knife crime can have a devastating impact on victims, their families and communities.

“We are pleased to be a part of this forum, which will support the ongoing work of a host of organisations involved in tackling serious violent crime and keeping our communities safe.”