GRIEVING FAMILIES’ PLEA FOR STOP AND SEARCH
FAMILIES of the latest victims of Britain’s knife crime epidemic called for an end to the bloodshed yesterday.
United in grief, their lives shattered by knife-wielding thugs, the parents of five murdered teenagers issued an impassioned appeal for more stop and search by police and tougher penalties for knife offenders.
Sharon Louch, 47, lost her son Jay Sewell, 18, last December after he was attacked by a mob of nine youths in Eltham, south-east London.
She said: ‘I don’t have faith in this country’s justice system and I’ve no faith in the sentences they’re giving out.
‘It just seems that life is cheap. Knife offenders should be hauled off the street. They shouldn’t just get a rap on the knuckles, told they’re a naughty boy then be allowed out into society again.
‘It doesn’t matter what colour they are, whether they’re white or black. If police feel there’s a need to stop people they should be stopped.’
As MPs and police chiefs continued to row over how to resolve the crisis, the Daily Mail approached the families of some of the 27 teenagers stabbed to death in the last year to hear their views.
Miss Louch, a mother-of-four, told of her despair at the soft sentences being handed out to knife offenders and accused ministers of caring more about Brexit than children dying in the street.
She has launched a petition, now with 40,000 signatures, calling for knife possession to carry a ten-year sentence.
Two women and six men accused of her son’s murder are due to go on trial later this year. However, Miss Louch is doubtful they will face hefty sentences even if they are convicted.
She said: ‘I’m scared they’re only going to get something like seven years for it. It scares me that my son’s life could only be worth that.
‘But for me, I’ve got the life sentence. All I’ve got is a grave that I go and cry at every day. My son is never going to get married, I’m never going to be a grandmother to his kids. It’s such a waste.’
She added: ‘Theresa May is an absolute disgrace to this country. While our kids are dying on our streets all they’re bothered about is Brexit.’
The horrific murders of girl scout Jodie Chesney and private schoolboy Yousef Makki, both 17, last weekend brought back her son’s death, Miss Louch said.
‘I feel so much for those parents because it’s the most horrific thing in the world,’ she said. ‘As soon as I heard it, it took me back to the night I got the knock on my door.
‘My boy was brought up in a loving family and he was not a member of a gang.’
Meanwhile, the family of one of three teenagers stabbed to death in Birmingham in a fortnight of carnage – dubbed a ‘national emergency’ by police leaders – spoke out for the first time yesterday.
Abdullah Muhammad, 16, was killed last month simply for straying into the wrong area, his relatives said.
His sister Khadeeja, 18, said: ‘The police aren’t tackling the problem, this could have been prevented if the police were stopping and searching people. Theresa May has made the situation worse, she made the wrong decision.
‘She should be promoting stop and search, because every other day we hear something involving a knife.’
Just five days after that murder, another teenager, Hazrat Umar, 18, was stabbed to death as he made his way to a gym in Birmingham on February 25.
One of his relatives, Nazir Afzal, the former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, has said there is a lack of leadership on tackling knife crime.
Yesterday Umar Afzal, 70, Nazir’s older brother, said: ‘These types of killings are on the rise – it’s not safe to go out on foot at night. The law is too lenient.
‘The police are doing as much as they can but their hands are tied. Unfortu-
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And in yet another case, Keelan Wilson, 15, was killed by a group of masked attackers while tending to a brokendown car in Merry Hill in the West Midlands last May.
His mother, Kelly Ellitts, said: ‘Theresa May’s decision to reduce stop and search when she was home secretary was ridiculous. She will never see herself in a situation like the one I’ve been left in, so she doesn’t properly understand.
‘Things like this don’t happen to people like her. These boys should get a prison sentence for carrying a knife, as they don’t seem to be bothered about the consequences.’