Mother protests over knife event

Rosie Ross was fatally stabbed in Birmingham city centre

An event thought to feature knife-throwing at a town festival has been changed after the mother of a stabbed girl complained.

The knife-throwing, which the council said would have been an illusion, was to be held at an event in Walsall.

But Karen Ross, whose daughter was Rosie, 16, was stabbed to death in Birmingham's Centenary Square in May 2001 said she was dismayed.

"People are trying to get knives off the street, not on them," she said.

"I was really dismayed when I read [the council] were putting on an entertainment in the street involving knives.

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Karen Ross' 16-year-old daughter was fatally stabbed in a random attack

"It goes against everything that everybody else is campaigning about.

"We are trying to get knives off the streets not put them on the street."

Killer detained

She added it did not matter what the actual form of entertainment was, whether it was an illusion or not.

A spokeswoman for Walsall Council said no knives would have been thrown at the festival but the council had decided to remove the show from the event.

Councillor Louise Harrison, cabinet member for leisure and culture said: "In light of recent comments, we have decided to ask the company to replace their show with an alternative street theatre performance."

Rosie's killer, Inderjit Kainth, 44 at the time of his sentencing in 2001, was ordered to be detained indefinitely at a top security hospital.

Rosie, who was from Walsall, was 16 when she was stabbed as she sat in the sun.