29 June 2024 , 16:08
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The anguished family of a 14-year-old air cadet stabbed to death by another child have joined calls for action on knives.
Jordan Shani’s brother Nathaniel was one victim in a string of teen-on-teen knife horrors. And heartbroken Jordan, 20, believes cuts to services for youngsters are part of the issue. He said: “We need to bring back community and youth centres. A lot have gone. We have a problem with violence in this country.”
Unarmed Nathaniel was stabbed in the neck during a fight in Harpurhey, Manchester, last September. Two boys, who were 14 and 13 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons, were this month jailed for life for a minimum of 13 and 10 years respectively for his murder.
Nathaniel’s death was one of a clutch of killings amid a spiralling youth knife crime epidemic. According to the Office for National Statistics, in the year to March 2023, 42 people aged 13 to 19 were murdered by stabbing – 10 of them aged under 16. The figure was a huge jump from the 20 in 2013.
Jordan Shani (STEVE ALLEN)ordan said losing his “comedian” brother, who made his family laugh “every day”, was a nightmare. Nathaniel, known as Natie, was a dedicated air cadet with 317 Failsworth Squadron and was thinking about what he wanted to do with his life. Jordan said: “As his older brother, he looked up to me on things he’d like to do together.
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“Especially as he got older, getting into teenage years, he started to come to me more about his plans, and what we both can do in the future for ourselves and our family. When I found out Nathaniel had passed I started to cry as he was part of my soul. It’s surreal to think I’ve lost my right-hand man. We had a lot of plans and a lot of things we wanted to do and now that’s all been snatched away.”
Nathaniel was killed in Harpurhey, Manchester (CHRIS NEILL)Jordan and his father are trying to set up a foundation in Nathaniel’s memory but he is angry that politicians only seem to act after killings. He said: “I feel like something only takes place when a murder happens. It should just be happening in general. We should be proactive instead of reactive. MPs could be doing a lot more to raise awareness. If we can stop knife crime and violence and keep our children safe, that’s the goal. It’s important that kids have a future.”
Jordan added that he was pleased to see actor Idris Elba tackle the issue. Last week, the Luther star, 51, was in Hammersmith, West London, raising awareness with Labour leader Keir Starmer and families of victims. Jordan said: “For him to take the time out to say, ‘Stop, let’s see how we can drop knife crime’ is great. We need to emphasise stopping knife crime and violence. Let’s work together to see where we can go.”