Father of Ryan Passey who was killed in a Stourbridge nightclub backs campaign to ban machetes and zombie knives
The father of Ryan Passey says he is determined the legacy of his son's death at the age of 24 will be 'greater education' about the perils and dangers of youngsters carrying knives.
Speaking on the eve of the sixth anniversary of Ryan losing his life after being stabbed to death in a Stourbridge night club, Adrian Passey wholeheartedly backed the Express and Star's campaign to ban machetes.
West Midlands police recently relaunched its inquiry into the 2017 death after Kobe Murray, aged 19, was found not guilty of Ryan's murder and manslaughter,.An independent review by West Yorkshire Police into the handling of the case made 18 recommendations which will now be acted on.
But he said as much as the family's focus was on this, and getting justice for their son, he was determined to see that as few parents of youngsters as possible in the future would have to endure the heartache and anguish of losing them that they had suffered.
Adrian said he agreed with his friend and fellow Justice For Ryan campaigner Jason Connon who has called for a ban on youngsters being able to purchase knives so easily from the high street or specialist shops – the knife that killed Ryan was brought from a shop close to the Merry Hill Centre.
He also called for more education in schools and vowed he would try and make sure that any money raised in future for campaign funds would go to this purpose. He called on central government to introduce the subject of knife crime into the school curriculum or to hold special classes on the subject
He said: "Not only have we seen that youngsters on the streets are carrying machetes, knives or other bladed weapons, they are being taken into school. We have seen teachers attacked and going back even one stabbed to death.
"The law says it is illegal to carry most knives or weapons in public without good reason and to sell them to anyone under the age of 18. but they seem to be getting onto the street and I would personally back any campaign to tighten up laws to make them unavailable.
"But before youngsters carry them or buy them it is important to get into their mind set to find out why they are doing this. Kids learn lessons from a very early age and absorb information in their formative years.
"I would urge parents, especially in this day and age, to talk to their kids about knife crime – there is plenty of material on the subject – and not to tell them what to do or not to do but to make them think about why they would want to carry a knife.
"Schools need to do more as well and I am an advocate of people coming in to educate youngsters about the problems we have seen, the deaths we have seen.
"I have been shocked and sickened by what has happened recently, particularly the death of Joseph Riches in the cold light of day, in Stourbridge which is close to me and he was just 16.
"That is another set of parents who have lost their son or daughter at a tender age and for what, I'm not sure. It is far too easy for youngsters or anyone to buy dangerous weapons but there is not enough education at a young age to make them want to decide against it."
