Sheffield needs to 'wake up' after several stabbings and shootings, community leader says

A 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were knifed in the London Road area in the space of two hours, the first on Leverton Drive and the second on Cemetery Road.

The incidents are just the latest in a series of violent crimes in the area since the turn of the year, with several stabbings and at least one shooting taking place nearby.

And across the city, 2020 has seen violence with a murder in Norfolk Park and multiple drug-related shootings in nearby Arbourthorne.

Sahira Irshad from Sharrow community group Mums United said the ‘terrible and horrifying’ incidents should be a watershed moment for the city as a whole.

She said: “We have to wake up. We have just finished January and we have had half a dozen stabbings and multiple shootings. We have serious problems not just in this area but in the whole of Sheffield.

“Every mother says it’s not my kids but tomorrow it could be your child. We need to start engaging with these kids.”

She said the stabbings had taken place just yards away from where Mums United were about to open a new youth group.

The club will feature workshops and football sessions taken by Sheffield Wednesday staff, and will also provide opportunities for youngsters to speak with community leaders.

“It is really important that we get the club up and running to stop this happening,” she added.

And Sheffield Central MP, Paul Blomfield, said: “We’ve got to get to grips with the causes behind the rise in knife crime, of which these incidents are another disturbing example.

“I talked with young people about the issue during my community consultation in October, and took their concerns to Westminster, arguing with ministers for a strategy which includes re-establishing Sure Start, investing in youth services, tackling school exclusions and preventing young people getting sucked into gang culture.”

The Mums United Club will take place every Monday at the Landsdowne Meeting Rooms on Club Garden Road between 4-6pm.