Your Route to Real News

Nottingham stabbing victim's dad's poignant response to 14-year-old boy's death

01 May 2024 , 17:29
1358     0
Grace O’Malley-Kumar (l) pictured with her family (Image: Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS)
Grace O’Malley-Kumar (l) pictured with her family (Image: Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS)

A dad of one of the victims of the Nottingham stabbings has said knife crime is "out of control" after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death in northeast London.

Grace O’Malley Kumar, 19, valiantly tried to save friend Barnaby Webber as he was stabbed 10 times in a street by frenzied Valdo Calocane on June 13, last year. After slaughtering the university students, Calocane then killed 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates. And now Grace's father Sanjoy Kumar has said more needs to be done to tackle knife crime after another fatal stabbing in Hainault where it has now emerged that Daniel Anjorin was the victim as he walked to school.

Four other people were also hospitalised including two police officers while a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. In a tragic coincidence, Daniel was a pupil Bancroft's School, in Woodford Green, northeast London, that had also been attended by Grace. The school's flag is flying at half mast today after the most recent tragedy.

“Knife crime is out of control in our country and the government is lagging behind in legislation," Mr Kumar told the Telegraph. “Whilst there is a lot going on world-wide, fixing problems at home in the UK should be an urgent priority to keep our public, especially children, safe.”

In a statement on its website, independent school Bancroft’s said: “We are devastated by the heartbreaking news of the death of Daniel Anjorin, who attended our school. This has left us in profound shock and sorrow. Daniel joined Bancroft’s at seven-years old and quickly became a core member of our community. He was a true scholar, demonstrating commendable dedication to his academic pursuits.

Two New York cops stabbed during celebrations in Times Square eiqriqeeitprwTwo New York cops stabbed during celebrations in Times Square
Nottingham stabbing victim's dad's poignant response to 14-year-old boy's deathDaniel Anjorin has been named as the victim of the Hainault stabbings
Nottingham stabbing victim's dad's poignant response to 14-year-old boy's deathGrace had gone to the same school as Daniel (Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS)

“His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us. Losing such a young pupil is something we will always struggle to come to terms with. We are now doing all we can to support our entire community through this most painful situation. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Daniel’s family during this incredibly difficult time.”

Rishi Sunak paid tribute to those affected by the attack in Hainault at the start of Prime Minister’s Questions. The Prime Minister told the Commons: “I know that the thoughts of the whole House are with the people of Hainault in east London following yesterday’s appalling attack.

“Such violence has no place on our streets. It is absolutely heart-breaking that a teenage boy has died and I can’t imagine what his family are going through, and we send them our heartfelt condolences and offer our very best wishes to all those injured. I would just like to reiterate my thanks to the police and other emergency first responders for embodying the highest standards of public service under such awful circumstances.”

Better enforcement rather than tougher legislation is needed to prevent incidents similar to the stabbings in Hainault on Tuesday, a minister has said. Kemi Badenoch told LBC: “I think that enforcement is where we need to focus on. That is the remit of the Mayor of London.

“We’ve banned all sorts of knives over the last 14, 15 years, this is not the first time we have done that. There has to be a limit to what we do before we just stop knives being produced, people have knives for legitimate reasons, but we should not be having machetes, zombie knives, samurai swords and so on for people to kill other people.”

She added: “We have cracked down numerous times. People keep finding ways to get around them, so there might be more that we can do from a legislative side but I’m one of those people who thinks that bans can only go so far. Murder is banned and people are still killing, so enforcement is what we need to focus on.”

While a shadow minister said it is too soon to make “political points”. Responding to claims from Ms Badenoch that Sadiq Khan was not taking knife crime “seriously”, Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow education secretary, told Sky News: “This was a tragic and awful, awful incident.

“Sadly we have seen rising levels of knife crime across our country, I’ve certainly seen that in my community in the North East. I know that Sadiq Khan has been making progress in tackling knife crime in London, but I’m not sure, given how close this is to this terrible incident, that really it’s the time to be seeking to make political points around this. I think we need to focus on making sure the police have got the support that they need and that where there are lessons we need to learn if those are identified then we take action on it.”

Tim Hanlon

Print page

Comments:

comments powered by Disqus