My son, 18, was knifed in the heart… now kids young as EIGHT carry blades at school and stab each other over video games
My son, 18, was knifed in the heart… now kids young as EIGHT carry blades at school and stab each other over video games
Share:
WHEN two 10-year-olds got into a fight about a computer game during lunch, it looked at first like just another childish squabble in the canteen. But as one of the lads picked up a blade and plunged it into the stomach of the other, shocked onlookers were given a vivid reminder of the knife crime epidemic that is now infiltrating our schools.
![[Photo of a cardboard cutout of Joshua Ribera, a victim of knife crime, with a collage of photos in the background.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/b83051d9-c9a6-4444-9661-9a938996cccd.jpg?strip=all&w=828)
Anti-violence campaigner Alison Cope - who lost her own son to knife crime - was told about the incident as she gave a talk to pupils at a school she has asked us not to name in Stoke-on-Trent last year. Shockingly, experts are now warning that one in 20 children has carried a blade and the scourge is spreading to kids of all ages.
![[Woman sits by a TV showing a video of her deceased son, surrounded by memorials.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/79266e7f-26e2-4271-92da-da56cae39678_761b30.jpg?strip=all&w=552)
The figures come amid a crackdown on online deliveries following the horrific murders of three young girls in Southport by Axel Rudakubana, who was able to buy his deadly weapon on Amazon in seconds. In an exclusive interview, Alison, 50, tells The Sun that Britain's schools are becoming breeding grounds for knife violence, fuelled not just by crime gangs but also social media feuds that are now being settled with bloodshed in the playgrounds.
![[Mugshot of Axel Rudakubana.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/undated-handout-photo-issued-merseyside-965245126_00a053.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
She explains: "The youngest we’ve seen was in year four, so about eight or nine years old. That kid was scared of being stabbed or attacked themselves. "They brought the knife into school and showed it to their friend. That friend told someone else and then the teacher found out.
![[A machete and its sheath on a white surface with a ruler.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/strictly-embargoed-conclusion-sentencing-axel-965844094_eda410.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
