Grieving mothers tell people to report knife crime information

FIVE MOTHERS whose sons were stabbed to death are urging Londoners to speak up about knife crime.

They shared their stories as part of a campaign aimed at inspiring women whose close relatives may be on the fringes of knife crime to report information.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick, pictured, said she hopes their “tragic accounts” will encourage people to call the Crimestoppers charity.

She said: “We understand this is a difficult thing to ask – but you don’t have to name names and even a small piece of information could be vital. Making that one call could literally save the life of someone’s son or daughter.” The women taking part in The Hard Calls Save Lives campaign are Becky Beston, whose son Archie Beston was 19 when he was killed on a night out, and Lorraine Jones’s son Dwayne Simpson who died aged 20 as he tried to save a friend’s life, while Lillian Serunkuma’s 15-year-old son Quamari Serunkuma-Barnes was killed outside his school gates.

She said: “It can be hard to make the call to say someone is involved in knife crime, especially if it’s someone you know or love. But it’s so much harder if you don’t.”

Also taking part are Yvonne Lawson, whose 17-year-old son, Godwin, was stabbed to death, and Jean Foster, whose son Christopher Foster, 34, was stabbed to death outside a pub. Mick Duthie, director of operations at Crimestoppers, said: “Hearing the mums speak in such an honest, frank and heartfelt way about losing a son to knife crime is incredibly humbling. I admire their courage to warn others in their own words about the danger of not speaking up.”