Knife crime special report: We must do more to save innocent lives
The murder of James Brindley is the sixth fatal knife attack to happen in the Black Country this year.
Victims as young as 13 have lost their lives to the blade in the past six months, but just what is being done to stop the scourge of knife crime and save innocent lives?
The Police and Crime Commissioner's office, which sets the priorities for West Midlands Police as well as holding the region's force to account, says the rise in knife crime is a 'problem' and one it is 'working hard to address'.
Back in 2015 police and crime commissioner (PCC) David Jamieson set up knife surrender bins.
They are currently based around Birmingham, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich, but the PCC is committed to also getting them installed in Dudley and Walsall - the scene of the fatal stabbing of Mr Brindley.
They were set up in partnership with Words 4 Weapons in an attempt to reduce knife crime by getting people to dispose of their weapons voluntarily.
Last year, when the 13 bins were checked, more than 130 knives were found along with a stun-gun, six blank firing pistols and hammers.
Also in 2015, when it became clear knife crime was on an upward trend, Mr Jamieson led a campaign to change the law around zombie knives. Anyone who manufactures, sells, hires, imports or lends a zombie knife is now committing a crime, thanks to the change in the law, and faces six months behind bars and/or a fine.
In response to the latest knife crime figures, which shows it is at its highest point in the past five years, assistant PCC Ashley Bertie said: "The West Midlands remains a safe place to live and visit. However, the rise in knife crime presents a problem here, as it does across the country, and it is something that we are working hard to address.
"We are funding knife bins across the region and are committed to increasing the number in the Black Country so that every borough has at least one. Weapon surrender bins give people a safe way to dispose of weapons and get them off the streets.
"We have also launched a Commission on Gangs and Violence to address the root causes of knife crime, West Midlands Police are proactively going after the weapons and we recently led a successful campaign to change the law to ban dangerous zombie knives from sale."
West Midlands Police say the responsibility for tackling knife crimes sits with the force, parents, teachers, licensees and friends.
A spokesman said: "During the last decade we have worked hard on campaigns and operations to reduce knife crime across the West Midlands.
“Our Precious Lives project has now reached more than 100,000 pupils at schools across the region with a powerful message steering young people away from knife crime and ‘de-glamourising’ gang culture.
“It is important to stress the responsibility for tackling knife crime sits with all of us - police officers, parents, teachers, licensees, friends - and it is vital we all work together to change behaviours and stop people carrying these potentially deadly weapons."
As well as the police, several charities are also dedicated to lowering knife crime, one of which is The Ben Kinsella Trust. The trust, set up in memory of murdered schoolboy Ben Kinsella, aims to educate children around knife crime and just how severe the consequences can be.
Predominantly based in London, the trust is looking to offer its services to school children in the West Midlands as knife crime rises in the region.
Patrick Green, from the trust, told the Express & Star: "We are seeing a rise in knife crime across the UK. Knife crime is an issue that effects the country as a whole but there is also local drivers that effect each area individually.
"We believe we should be talking to more young people about knife crime and the risks associated with it. The education cannot really start too early.
"We know that by talking to people not everyone fully understands it and they need to experience it, which is why we have five special rooms set up so children can feel the true impact of knife crime.
"We are looking at ways to bring that onto the road so we can come to places like the West Midlands and educate as many children as possible."
The stabbing of 26-year-old James Brindley follows that of Tina Billingham, Kulwinder Kaur, Anne Marie James and Tracey and Pierce Wilkinson, who have all died from stab wounds this year.
As reported by the Express & Star yesterday, the family of Mansoor Mahmood are desperately appealing for information after he too was stabbed to death outside a takeaway in Brierley Hill last year.
On June 23 13-year-old Pierce Wilkinson and his mum Tracey, aged 50, were found with fatal stab wounds at their home on Greyhound Lane. Pierce's dad and Tracey's husband, 47-year-old Peter Wilkinson also suffered stab wounds but survived the alleged attack.
Twenty-three year old Aaron Barley has admitted to attempting to murder Mr Wilkinson but has not entered pleas on the two counts of murder relating to Pierce and Mrs Wilkinson.
Just months before this incident, Anne Marie James was stabbed to death by her brother in Wolverhampton. Melvin James stabbed his sister to death and wounded his mother Joyce at her home on Chadwick Close, Merry Hill, on the morning of March 8 before turning the knife on himself.
A month prior to this 54-year-old Tina Billingham was found with fatal stab wounds when she arrived at a doctor's surgery in Rowley Regis. An inquest concluded she died as a result of stab wounds to the chest and to the stomach and her partner, 54-year-old Ronald Cooke of Granville Road, Old Hill, is due back in court on August 7 charged with her murder.
On January 18, less than three weeks before the Mrs Billingham incident, Kulwinder Kaur was found dead in her flat in Willenhall. Police were called at 11.44am to The Pinnacle, Gomer Street, Willenhall, where they found Mrs Kaur. An inquest later heard she died from stab wounds to the neck and chest.
Her husband, Azad Singh, 46, of The Pinnacle, has been charged with her murder. He is also charged with the wounding a 39-year-old man. His trial is due to begin on July 17.
Back on October 15 last year, 25-year-old Mansoor Mahmood died after being stabbed in the stomach outside Dixi Chicken on Brierley Hill’s High Street. He left behind his wife and two young children.
West Midlands Police is currently appealing for information regarding its prime suspect, Niron Parker-Lee.
