Bereaved Doncaster mum's appeal to end knife crime as harrowing police video shows moments up to attack

Lisa Theobald's son was aged only 20 when he lost his life - a victim of knife crime.

Now she has backed a South Yorkshire Police campaign to try to end the tragic toll of death and injury due to knives on the county's streets.

The force has released a video telling of the tragedy, and Lisa has explained why she is throwing her support behind this week's Operation Sceptre.

In January 2022, Lisa received the news news every mother dreads when she was told that her son Ryan had been stabbed to death in Doncaster city centre.

Ryan was on a night out with friends in Doncaster city centre when he was slashed in the face and stabbed in the heart by 19-year-old Amrit Jhagra.

He collapsed in the street and died, leaving mum Lisa to mourn the loss of her only son.

"I've still not come to terms with it, and I still think he's going to walk through the door," Lisa said. "It's pain every day and it's physical pain, physical heart pain."

Ryan was Lisa's middle child and the pair shared an incredibly close bond.

"He was a cheeky chap and was very protective over his mum and his sisters," Lisa said. "He'd do anything and he was a good friend as well. He'd always stick up for his friends no matter what.

"He was a mummy's boy definitely and I did do everything for him. His sisters always used to get a bit annoyed with me because I mollycoddled him and we were really close."

Lisa dropped off Ryan at his friend Janis Kozlovskis' house on the afternoon of 28 January 2022. She told him to not be home late as he had work the next day before telling him she loved him and saying what would turn out to be her final goodbye to her son.

Ryan and Janis, 17, were killed in a double murder after being attacked by Jhagra following a fight that initially broke out in Silver Street.

Jhagra, of Cedar Road, Doncaster, was convicted of two murders and possessing an offensive weapon, with the teenager handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 24 years.

Although Ryan's killer is behind bars, Lisa must live with the pain of knowing her son is no longer with her and that is why she is supporting Operation Sceptre - a week-long campaign to detect, prevent and reduce knife crime in our local communities.

This national operation supports the work police do all year round to tackle knife crime and Lisa wants to send out a clear message urging youngsters to drop the knives so that no other parent has to endure the same pain and grief of losing a child to a violent and needless attack.

"It would never have happened if there wasn’t a knife involved," Lisa said. "They are all wannabe gangsters and I'm fed up of people saying they carry knives for protection.

"It's not the case - if you've got a knife, you're going to use it. There will be a moment when you use that knife and you don't need to do it. Just leave the knife alone.

"I still get that pain in my heart and it's like being tortured every day.

"You don't need to carry a knife, a gun or any weapon at all - there is no need for it. You're going to end up six feet under or locked up."

You can watch Lisa talk about her grief and Ryan's story in the video here.