'Knife crime causes absolute devastation'

A campaigner tackling knife crime in memory of his son who was stabbed to death has said it is important to "see the damage that one moment in time can do" to families like his.

Martin Cosser, from Milford in Surrey, set up knife crime charity Charlie's Promise after his 17-year-old son was fatally stabbed at a party in Warnham, West Sussex, in 2023.

Ahead of the national Operation Sceptre police campaign on knife crime awareness, Cosser told BBC South East that the charity wanted to push for more support for young people to tackle the issue.

"My wife still messages Charlie every day to tell him she loves him," he said.

Cosser added: "It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking kids want to be online. They want something to do, somewhere to go, and someone to talk to.

"It [knife crime] causes absolute devastation and it has destroyed the people I love most in this world."

Cosser said he had given talks to more than 100,000 children since his son's death, teaching them of the dangers of knife crime and carrying knives.

He has previously called for children as young as nine to be taught about the dangers of carrying knives, advocating for early education and intervention.

As part of Operation Sceptre, Sussex Police said it had received £600,000 in funding from the Home Office's Knife Crime Concentration Fund, which will be used to specifically target knife crime in hotspot areas in Brighton, Crawley and Eastbourne.

Sussex Police said that knife crime in the county had fallen by 24% in the past year.

Ch Insp Jim Loader, the force's lead on knife crime, said: "I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impact that knife crime can have on victims, families and wider communities who live in fear.

"It's really important for children, young people and communities to talk to us and work with us to share their concerns or information.

"One knife on our streets in one too many."

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