Stab mother backs school scheme

Robert Knox (right) with his mother Sally and younger brother Jamie, 17

Rob Knox (right) was stabbed to death in Sidcup in May last year

Schoolchildren in Kent are to use a new interactive game designed to encourage them to discuss the danger of weapons.

The education pack, which is being launched by Kent Police, has the backing of the mother of an 18-year-old who was stabbed to death outside a bar.

Rob Knox, from Swanley, was killed in May 2008 in Sidcup, south-east London.

Sally Knox said anyone caught carrying a knife should be given a prison sentence: "It should be obligatory... at least a year in jail."

I think the people that carry out these crimes actually have got no respect for their own life

Sally Knox

About 700 schools and other youth groups across Kent will receive the education pack, which is aimed at pupils aged 10 to 11 - in the last year of primary school, and 12 to 15 year olds - in secondary schools.

It is designed to get young people discussing the problem of using knives and guns, to make decisions based on different circumstances and reduce the number of incidents involving weapons.

Chief Constable of Kent Police, Michael Fuller, said: "Ultimately, we want to reduce the possibility that young people in Kent will carry or use weapons."

'Respect others'

Mrs Knox, whose actor son will be seen in the next Harry Potter film, said she did not want anyone else to be killed, and wanted his memory to live on "trying to do good for other people".

"What I'm trying to achieve is trying to re-educate younger people to respect other people, to respect their friends, to respect the elders, and also to respect themselves because I think the people that carry out these crimes actually have got no respect for their own life.

"Secondly I want to support and I want to campaign against the prevention of carrying knives... and then thirdly I really believe the government should do more about making custodial services for carrying knives," she said.

Karl Bishop, 21, of Carlton Road, Sidcup, has been charged with Rob Knox's murder.