ITV News’ Jonathan Brown speaks to Leanne Lucas about her Let’s Be Blunt campaign
Words by Jonathan Brown, North of England reporter, and Eleanor Gregory, North of England producer.
A woman who was stabbed five times while trying to save 25 young girls from a knife-wielding teenager in Southport says she fears another tragedy will happen if more is not done to tackle knife crime.
Leanne Lucas, a yoga instructor whose Taylor Swift-themed dance class was targeted last July, has launched a new campaign called Let’s Be Blunt that she hopes will save lives.
The Southport attacker was armed with a kitchen knife he’d bought online.
The attack claimed the lives of three girls, while Leanne, local businessman John Hayes, and eight children were treated in hospital for serious injuries.
He was later jailed for a minimum of 52 years for the three murders, as well as the attempted murders of Leanne Lucas, businessman John Hayes, and eight other children who survived their injuries.
Today, the 36-year-old’s new initiative is calling for the widespread adoption of rounded-tip kitchen knives to reduce knife-related violence.
She told ITV News that we need to “change the perception” of knives after she was critically injured herself.
“In my eyes I don’t see change happening fast enough,” she said. “Are we waiting for the next incident to appear on the TV? I’m not prepared to do that.”
Let’s Be Blunt campaign calls on households, retailers, manufacturers, and policymakers to switch from pointed kitchen knives to safer, rounded-tip alternatives.
Leanne said: “The kitchen utensil has the potential to become a weapon – I’m asking people to take an inventory of their kitchen… so that your kitchen becomes a safer place. It reduces the risk, reduces the impulsivity, and hopefully goes towards preventing knife crime in the future occurring.”
Six-year-old Bebe King, Seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar were killed during the stabbing.
Leanne told ITV News that she has launched her campaign not only for the three girls, but “for everyone” telling us “it’s for them, the injured, and their families supporting them”.
She added: “Every day the girls are in my thoughts, if we can do something to help this not happen to other children, that’s what we’re going to do.”
Her life has changed since the incident, telling ITV News that she “had no purpose” and “didn’t know what to do” but has now found a passion to give her and other people hope.
The latest ONS homicide statistics showed there were 262 murders involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales in the year to March 2024, with 17 of the victims being children under the age of 16.
Kitchen knives were used in 44% of those incidents.
Taking her campaign to parliament, Leanne will give a speech at a special reception in the presence of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The event is part of Knife Crime Awareness Week and has been organised by the Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity set up in memory of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella, who was stabbed to death in London in 2008.
Crime and Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson, has said that “nothing is off the table when it comes to getting lethal blades off our streets and keeping people safe” and that the government is exploring options to make changes by meeting with retailers and manufacturers.
For more information on the Let’s Be Blunt campaign visit www.letsbeblunt.co.uk.
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