Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Huge rise in number of knife and weapon offences in Dundee Callsmade Court staff fortougher s seize knives sentences a and syringes amidrisein knifecrime i in past year Council leader opens up on knives and the night that haunts him
A fatal stabbing outside his family home in Kirkton is an event he has replayed in his head, over and over.
His experience of the tragedy was a secret to all but his close family — but he recently chose to share his experiences for the first time, driven by the Tele’s report on the recent rise in knife crime.
In a poignant Facebook post, John shared the moment in 1997 when his neighbour was stabbed in the heart.
Recalling the “bloodcurdling screams” in the street, he wrote: “It left a family without a son, a brother and a dad. In fact, his child never even got to meet their dad. Knife crime is a real scourge of our society.”
Discussing it with the Tele, he hoped to put across a message that politicians don’t live in ivory towers.
He said: “We get updates from Police Scotland on these sorts of figures — but when I read the piece in the Tele it just made me reflect more on my personal experiences.
“If you can personally relate to something, it’s more powerful. It’s important to understand that politicians live through these crimes.”
While the screams of Kirkton stay with him — the effect of which sometimes leaves him unable to watch horror films. Blades have also impacted on John’s family.
In 2004 his uncle, Andrew Nixon, just a few years older than him, was
AT just the age of nine, John Alexander had his first brush with knives — a moment he has buried, but never forgotten.
stabbed in the torso by a man he didn’t know, in an unprovoked attack.
John said: “He was coming home, to a tenement in Fintry, and this guy was there. And he was stabbed.
“The doctors said if it had been half an inch in any direction, it would’ve punctured a lung or a kidney. He could have bled to death.”
The incident, in John’s mid-teens, had a bigger impact on him, as he was no longer blessed with the ignorance that comes with childhood. He said: “It made Andy never want to go back to that flat again, to never want to live in any flat again, and it creates a real fear around daily things you take for granted. Paranoia kicks in a little bit.
“My first home was a top-floor flat in Stobbie and I couldn’t help but think about if someone was lurking. It’s not that it gets easier — you just learn to deal with it.”
John’s post on social media provoked an outpouring of reaction from locals, some of whom shared their own experiences of knife crime.
While he supports the ongoing use of stop-and-search to root out those carrying knives, he believes educating people about not carrying knives is key to preventing future tragedies.
He is toying with introducing a schools event akin to Safe Drive, Stay Alive, in which those with first-hand experience of road tragedies share their stories.
He said: “Police Scotland has a critical role in addressing knife crime but the police will generally deal with the consequences (of it).
“It doesn’t take much to go from carrying a knife to using it, and ruining lives. Even if you tell yourself you have it for protection, it can all come tumbling down.”