Knife angel: Grandmother of murdered Sheffield teen Jamie Stuart renews call for sculpture to be brought to city

Anne Gray’s grandson, Jamie Stuart, was just 19-years-old when he was stabbed to death on Holgate Avenue, Parson Cross, while he was walking home from a 21st birthday party in July 2011.

“It’s so tragic because he’d really turned his life around. He’d got a girlfriend and had ambitions. He wanted a flat and a family, we know he did, but it wasn’t to be,” said Anne.

More than a decade has passed since Jamie’s tragic death, but Anne says she still thinks of him every day and the impact of his loss continues to affect their family.

Jamie’s name, and a message saying: ‘Fly safe Jamie’ is written on the back of the eight-metre tall ‘knife angel,’ which is also known as the National Monument Against Violence and Aggression, and was created from more than 100,000 weapons surrendered in amnesties across the country.

Despite Jamie’s link to the touring sculpture, which has visited 17 towns and cities, it still has not been brought to Sheffield.

78-year-old Anne has been campaigning for the knife angel to be displayed in the city since 2019, and says she believes it is needed now more than ever.

“We’ve got to do everything we can to stop knife crime. When Jamie died there was only the odd incident, but now it’s a daily occurrence, with both knife and gun crime. Something has got to be done,” said Anne of Parson Cross.

Anne said the knife angel should only form part of the strategy to tackle violent crime in Sheffield, and suggested programmes and workshops aimed at engaging, and working with, young people should also be used.

She has liaised with a number of Sheffield councillors in her quest to bring the sculpture to the Steel City, most recently with Green councillor Alison Teal.

Following the news that Ms Teal is set to bid farewell to Sheffield City Council, Anne is now concerned the sculpture bid may be forgotten about.

“Alison was championing the knife angel coming to Sheffield and I really thought we were making headway. Who will take over this project as not everyone on the council welcomes this knife crime initiative,” she said.

Councillor Alison Teal, Executive Member for Sustainable Neighbourhoods, Wellbeing, Parks and Leisure, said: “The Safer Sheffield Crime and Disorder Partnership is involved in a number of initiatives to keep our communities as safe as possible. The partnership is looking further into whether Sheffield will host the Knife Angel, working with statutory agencies and exploring community views before a decision is made.”

The imposing statue, which took five years to make, was produced by the British Ironwork Centre (BIC) in Shropshire to highlight the senseless violence claiming so many lives across the country and to act as a memorial to those killed.

Sheffield University is listed as one of the potential future host sites on the BIC’s website, but Anne feels it should take pride of place in the city centre.

“It should be in town, in the city centre, like it has been everywhere else...it should be outside the Town Hall or the Peace Gardens – the name says it all, doesn’t it?,” she said.

Anne has been to view the knife angel in Derby and Chesterfield, where a knife amnesty held in conjunction with the sculpture being displayed led to over 100 weapons being handed in.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “We welcome any support to help drive down the grave risk linked to those carrying knives on our streets, and anything that helps raise awareness of knife-enabled crime and its consequences can only be a good thing. We regularly hold weapon surrender operations and would accept any weapons for destruction that someone wished to disclaim.”