Following the violent deaths of their children and experiencing a profound need to bring something good and positive out of something bad, affected families have come together to make a difference.
E tenebris lux. From the darkness (comes) light.
Liverpool has become the first city outside of London to set up “safe havens” in local shops to help people who feel threatened by violence.
Barry Mizen will open the first 'safe haven' outside London in Liverpool
Some businesses as well as community centres will allow victims to take shelter there. Staff will lock their premises, and call a victim’s family or the police.
The scheme will be launched by Barry Mizen, whose son Jimmy, 16, was murdered during an attack in a bakery three years ago.
The London scheme was set up in memory of Jimmy Mizen.
The teenager’s father will launch the project in north Liverpool and announce more details at Goodison Park, the home of Everton FC.
Jimmy Mizen was killed in May 2008 in the Three Cooks Bakery in Lee, South East London.
Jake Fahri, 19, from Lee, was sentenced to life in prison in March 2009 of Jimmy’s murder and told he would serve at least 14 years.
REPRINTED WITH THANKS TO BBC – TO SEE ORIGINAL STORY CLICK HERE
Reprinted with thanks to The Sun
ACTRESS Brooke Kinsella could feel her heart leaping as she stared anxiously at her watch and saw the minute hand hit 7.24am on Tuesday, June 29.
It was at this moment, two years ago, that her 16-year-old brother Ben died in hospital after being stabbed 11 times while out celebrating the end of his GCSEs in Islington, north London. Brooke, 26, who played EastEnders’ Kelly Taylor, says: “That day earlier this week was like a black hole. I’d agreed to give a TV interview and left the GMTV sofa at approximately 7.10am.
“I had been checking my watch all morning because I knew the time was approaching. I thought to myself, ‘I am leaving this sofa just as Ben was dying’. I couldn’t wait to get outside in the fresh air and I made it just in time. But it started raining and I let out a huge sob and started crying. It was as if Ben was crying with me through the rain. From there I went with my family to the cemetery where Ben is buried and we stared at a piece of stone, which felt rubbish. Afterwards we all barricaded ourselves in our rooms and went to bed for the rest of the day until it was time to attend a special lantern vigil that had been organised in the evening. Because of that, the day ended beautifully, thank goodness. It also helped me to refocus on the task that lies ahead.”
And that is exactly what Brooke did. Just two days later she started work at the Home Office in central London in her new Government-appointed role, heading a fact-finding mission into the work of schemes designed to stop young people carrying and using knives.
Prime Minister David Cameron has given her licence to tour the country to assess projects, decide on the best ones and report back to Home Secretary Theresa May.
Brooke says: “I am delighted to have this role but I will not be used as an election toy. I like that this Government has pledged to listen to real people rather than men in grey suits, but they must deliver on their promise to tackle violent crime, otherwise I will not feel comfortable being part of the project. I feel positive but determined to go about it in the right way. Everything I do, I do so Ben is not forgotten, and I really want to give it my best shot so that this doesn’t happen to someone else. I’m very lucky to have been given this job and for the sake of others I will try to do it well.”
So, armed with a list of tough questions, Brooke set about quizzing Mrs May. Here is how the conversation went.
Q: CAN you outline the role I have been given and tell me what impact my findings will have on forming Government policy in the future?
A: We are asking you to go around the country and visit certain projects that are committed to deterring young people from using knives and so forth and to assess those projects. I want to know what you think is really working, what is making a difference. We can sit here in Whitehall and think all sorts of things about what is going to work on the ground, but what it really needs is the interaction that you would have with those young people. I think they’ll respond to you. And we would like you to sit on our regular round-table meeting called Guns, Gangs And Knives, and speak about what you have seen.
Q: WILL budget cuts all round mean that initiatives to keep on top of violent crime, and especially knife crime, will be affected?
A: Obviously, dealing with the budget deficit is one of the key things and departments like this one are going to have to make cuts in their overall budget. But within that we can decide what we want to spend money on. This year there is £4million going to local partnerships to deal with initiatives such as alcohol-related violence, and 144 local community projects are getting £10,000 each to deal with crime issues in their area.
Q: HOW tough is this new Government prepared to be when it comes to knife crime and, especially, sentencing?
A: When we were in opposition we were concerned that although Labour had brought in new legislation relating to knife crime, the maximum sentence had only been used twice. We thought we needed to be tough on those who are committing knife crime. We currently have a review of sentencing taking place, and this will be part of that review, but we want to give a clear message to people that if you go with a knife intending to commit crime, we will deal with you toughly.
Q: WHAT lessons have been learned from the Labour Government in relation to how it tackled knife crime and the failures to bring down the statistics despite a £3million campaign?
A: It’s very important for Government to find out what is really making a difference as opposed to just sprinkling money around because, at the end of the day, what we are really interested in is making a difference to young people’s lives – but we need to know what really works. I don’t think Government always knows best in that respect, which is why we want to work with people like you.
Q: THERE is always talk of hidden statistics and figures when it comes to measuring crime. In your honest opinion, do you think the problem of knife crime has got better or worse in the past few years?
A: I think the problem of knife crime has got worse and everyone has been struck by the number of young people who have become victims and the number who carry knives because they fear what will happen to them if they don’t. If you carry a knife in those circumstances, the temptation is there to use it. We need to look at issues like this.
Q: EVERYONE knows that the key to tackling knife crime is education and changing attitudes of children at a young age. How does the Government plan to address discipline in schools and is it planning any key education initiatives to make this a priority?
A: This is very important and it is important to deliver on it. We are going to have a Bill coming through which will include toughening up what heads can do, certainly in relation to excluded pupils. When someone has been behaving in a way that warrants exclusion, appeal processes have been putting them back into the schools, making head teachers feel powerless. It is important that young people know there is a framework of behaviour and that there are consequences if they step outside it.
Q: I VISITED a boot camp initiative in America that had a brilliant success rate and was only 7p more expensive a day than the cost of keeping people in prison. Would you be prepared to visit or learn more about that to see if there would be a way of introducing something similar in Britain?
A: I think it’s important that we are willing to learn from other examples. We want to implement a National Citizen Service. It will be a six-week course, designed to give young people good activities and good experiences as well as learning social and team skills during the transition into adulthood.
Q: HOW do you plan to help young people head away from a life of crime?
A: What we do in schools is important in terms of giving young people the feeling that there is something in life they can aspire to and achieve. I’m a great believer in trying to find what each young person is good at and thus give them self-esteem. In opposition, we had the term “The Big Society”. It’s about communities and getting them to help young people, particularly in areas like sport. We are looking at having a network of people at community level who could kick-start that process.
Q: WHAT plans are there to help police tackle knife crime more effectively?
A: I want to help police officers get out there on the streets, and that’s about slashing bureaucracy. At the moment, your average PC spends more time in the office filling in forms. We need to just focus on fighting and cutting crime, not reading endless guidelines.
Q: HOW important is rehabilitation and what ideas does the Government have for rehabilitating offenders?
A: Rehabilitation is one of the key areas. My colleague Ken Clarke is looking at this area and a lot of it is about what you do in prison in terms of education, training and work. But it is also about helping people readjust into housing, work and family life when they leave. If those three elements are there then re-offending can often be reduced.
Q: WHAT do you think the public could do to stay safe and also to help out in the battle against violent crime?
A: With the help of police and communities, we must create environments where people feel safe to walk around freely but also where people feel safe challenging children who appear to be going down the wrong road.
Q: MANY people say that victims of violent crime and their families do not appear to have as many rights as the offenders themselves. What is the new Government’s view on this and do you propose to redress the balance?
A: There are some simple things we can do, such as making sure victims and their families are better informed and kept updated with the legal process. Often people just don’t know what is happening and we need to look at that.
Read more – With thank to The Sun newspaper