Mayor pledges to tackle knife crime as pupil dies at All Saints Catholic High School, Sheffield
The South Yorkshire Mayor, who is also the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner, today pledged that he is working hard to tackle knife crime after a child died after being stabbed at a Sheffield school.
Mayor Oliver Coppard spoke today (February 3) at a meeting of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel. A 15-year-old pupil at All Saints Catholic High School on Granville Road, Sheffield had been stabbed at lunchtime today, suffering what police said were serious injuries. The force later said he had died.
Police said a 15-year-old boy had been held on suspicion of murder. The school went into lockdown for the second time in less than a week, after what was reported to be threats of violence between two students last Wednesday (January 29).
Mayor Coppard told the meeting: “Any instance of knife crime is one too many.” He said that the incident at the school today underlines the importance of work to ensure that children are safe from knife crime, something the incident shows is not yet the case but an aim he remains committed to.
Earlier in the meeting Mayor Coppard said that tackling knife crime is a priority for him and South Yorkshire Police, whose work he oversees in the role he took on following his re-election last May. “It’s a scourge on our communities,” he said.
He referred to an event held on the issue in December, bringing together representatives of concerned organisations. “It is a start of a journey we’re on to really focus our work around knife crime,” said the mayor, adding that he wants South Yorkshire to be at the forefront of tackling the issue.
He also referred to a powerful speech by Lisa Theobald about her son Ryan, who was murdered in a knife attack outside a bar in Doncaster in 2022. “It’s a reminder of what can happen when teenagers carry knives,” he said, adding that Lisa Theobald’s life will never be the same following the tragedy.
*Amrit Jhagra, aged 19, fatally stabbed 17-year-old Janis Kozlovskis and 20-year-old Ryan Theobald in Doncaster city centre in the early hours of January 29, 2022. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 24 years for two counts of murder in October 2022. A 26-year term was later imposed on appeal.