How do you explain to your 12-year-old son that a boy just a couple of years older than him was killed on their way to school?
How can it possibly make sense that a boy like him, also an Arsenal fan, could go out one day, say goodbye to his family and never come back? And how do you convince your child that this is a random and rare tragedy, when just months earlier, another teenager in your community was also violently murdered? It’s shocking.
Daniel Anjorin’s adorable, innocent face has been keeping me awake at night. That poor child, stabbed to death with a sword aged just 14, never stood a chance, his life and future ripped away in an instant. We live nearby and it was not long before WhatsApp messages were flying around the parent groups on Tuesday as the chilling news unfolded, everyone trying to make sense of it.
As the community scrambled for information, local schools issued offers of support. It was only last June that 19-year-old student Grace O’Malley-Kumar, also from northeast London, was stabbed to death by a knife-wielding maniac in Nottingham. In a terrible coincidence, these young victims even went to the same school.
You can try to shield your children from the worst of the details, but you can’t completely block out the news - both my 10 and 12 year old soon knew what had happened to Daniel. And there were heartrending questions at bedtime. “Mummy, what happens when you are stabbed?” “Would it have hurt him?” “It’s so weird to think he is not here anymore.”
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My heart breaks for Daniel’s family, who are suffering the most unimaginable horror. Grace’s father Sanjoy Kumar said this week: “Knife crime is out of control. Fixing problems in the UK should be an urgent priority to keep our public, especially children, safe.” Politicians keep spouting the same old line, that violence has no place on our streets. But something needs to actually be done. We’re in a knife crime epidemic, with levels at a record high.
Bring in the tough legislation that bans these weapons. How the hell are people able to walk the streets with machetes, zombie knives and samurai swords? Desperate to keep our kids safe, we tell them: stay with friends, don’t walk home in the dark. But how could you ever imagine your child is in danger going to school in broad daylight? Like every other parent in the country right now, I feel horrified and helpless. Please let Daniel’s legacy be to finally force action - and for this to be the last heartbreak.
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