Leeds Lives Not Knives: City's young people help to tackle knife crime

A group of young people have started a social media campaign as part of a '˜Leeds Lives Not Knives' partnership.

Youths from the Black Health Initiative (BHI) created a music video, ‘Knife High’ to demonstrate the consequences of carrying a knife. It features the music of Leeds-based grime artist, Graft.

The video has had the backing of the city’s community safety partnership, Safer Leeds and has been featured on regional television.

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Graft said that he wanted to get involved due to the number of stabbings in Leeds and across the country.

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Leeds Lives Not Knives

He said: “I had to do this because too many people are stabbing for no reason.

“It’s time for this to stop and hopefully, this will get the message out.”

Knife crime continues to be a concern for West Yorkshire Police, with recent figures showing 227 crimes involving the use of knives reported in the county’s schools.

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However, people in Harehills have shown their support for tackling knife crime, following the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Irfan Wahid just over a year ago.

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Leeds Lives Not Knives

Chief Inspector Nick Ireland of Safer Leeds said: “Raising awareness around knife crime and warning young people about the dangers is a vital part of our work.

“We have sadly seen the tragic consequences of knife crime. Initiatives like this help to discourage young people from carrying a knife, protecting them from harm and keeping our communities safe.

“The video they produced has put that message across.”

Support the Leeds Lives Not Knives campaign using the hashtag #LLNK

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