KNIVES ARE OUT
700 dangerous weapons taken off our streets and 17 arrests made in one week of police clampdown
THIS deadly stash of weapons is just a fraction of the blades taken off North East streets in a matter of days.
Northumbria Police urged people to surrender lethal objects at police stations earlier this month and the results are horrifying.
Days after a 17-year-old pleaded guilty to stabbing 52-year-old solicitor Peter Duncan to death in Eldon Square, the force has issued a fresh warning to those still carrying knives.
While many of the items are clearly antique or decorative, easily concealed weapons designed to kill – including a knife crossed with a knuckle duster – were also recovered. Once all the items are counted and logged, the force say they will have taken up to 700 knives off the street in just a week.
A total of 17 people wanted in connection with weapons offences were arrested and the Border Force intercepted 12 potentially-deadly items bound for the region during a week of action under the banner of a national crackdown called Operation Sceptre. Assistant Chief Constable Helen McMillan said: “Nationally, we’re seeing there are very big problems with knife crime in some large cities and where they go we tend to follow.
“It’s really important that we take this sort of action to prevent and deter people from carrying out these crimes.
“It’s not acceptable to carry a knife – some young people are tempted to do that and it comes with often tragic consequences.
“Knife crime is something we’re determined to do something about in our region.”
She added: “Some of what we’ve recovered are ceremonial or ornamental but others are quite clearly nothing more than lethal weapons. On September 16, a teenager – who can’t be named for legal reasons – admitted murdering Peter Duncan in broad daylight in Newcastle city centre.
The father-of-two was stabbed in Eldon Square shopping centre with a screwdriver his attacker had stolen from Poundland on August 14.
With Newcastle residents still reeling from the killing, ACC McMillan said Northumbria Police are determined to stamp out knife crime before it gets out of hand.
ACC McMillan said: “One of our challenges is to change the mindset of young people.
“It’s not just a knife which can be used – screwdrivers and garden shears have also been identified. “Ordinary, everyday things can be used as weapons and it’s really important that we work with schools to speak to young people who are at risk of carrying any type of weapon.”