Pastor Lorraine Jones, whose son Dwayne Simpson was stabbed to death in 2014 while trying to protect a friend, said ‘tangible things’ are being done to cut knife crime
A mum whose son was stabbed to death while trying to protect his friend says she feels a “wind of change” in the fight to tackle knife crime.
Lorraine Jones said she’s pleased to see action being taken – and backed the Government to meet its pledge to halve knife crime within a decade. Her 20-year-old son Dwayne Simpson was murdered in Brixton, South London, in 2014, and she has campaigned tirelessly to prevent other families suffering the same heartbreak.
Speaking at the Dwaynamics boxing gym – which provides a safe space for young people – she told The Mirror : “We’re feeling the wind of change, and we’re positive knife crime will come down.
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“Tangible things are being done. The actions speak louder than words. And that’s why it is possible, and we believe that it will happen.”
On Wednesday she met Policing Minister Sarah Jones at the gym, set up in Dwayne’s memory. He died after intervening to protect a youngster he had been training as a boxer.
Pastor Lorraine said: “He died a peacekeeper. He died helping a young boy he knew from the boxing gym that he started. And it’s been a terrible nightmare.”
She continued: “I know the pain, the trauma, and I can honestly say that since we’ve had this change of Government, the tide has turned. The evidence is there.
“I met Sir Keir before he was Prime Minister, I met him with Idris Elba, and he shared his passion to want to reduce knife crime. He said to me ‘Pastor Lorraine if I’m in power I will make sure this is higher up the agenda and make sure that we make a difference’.
“He is a man of integrity.” And Lorraine went on: “We’re making progress. We’re not down in the depths of the dungeon like I felt we were in before this change took place.”
She said she was pleased to see a drop in knife-related incidents in the latest crime figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Figures released last week show a a 5% drop in knife-related crime in a year. There were 51,527 knife offences in the 12 months to June, compared to 54,215 the previous year.
There was an 18% drop in knife homicides in the same period. Pastor Lorraine said community projects like Dwaynamics have a key role to play.
Policing Minister Ms Jones said: Ms Jones said: “We’re absolutely moving in the right direction. Of course, every murder, every stabbing, is one too many, but we are determined to crack down on knife crime.
“I think the results that we’ve seen in the last year, we’ve turned a corner – knife crime was rising, now it’s beginning to come down. I think the overall knife crime figures, with the 5% reduction, plus the much bigger reduction in terms of homicides, I think, is really encouraging.”
She said targeting resources to hotspot policing, getting more police on the streets and tougher laws on the sale of knives have contributed to the fall. “All of these things come together to save lives and protect our communities,” she stated.
But the policing minister, who has been in post since September, said: “I’m not under any illusions that we’ve got a very long way go. The numbers are too high, we want to halve the numbers in 10 years.
“It’s great that we’re moving in the right direction, we’re saving lives, but there’s a long way to go.”