'We need to get to the root cause of knife crime'

Almost two years after the murder of his son, campaigner Martin Cosser says there was still "so much" that needs to be done to warn children of the dangers of knife crime.

Mr Cosser, a member of a government taskforce, set up the charity Charlie's Promise following the death of his 17-year-old son, who was stabbed at a party in West Sussex in July 2023.

He has renewed calls for compulsory knife crime education, and told BBC South East that he's now spoken to over 40,000 pupils in the region since he started giving talks in schools last August.

The government says it's committed to halving knife crime over the next decade.

Mr Cosser, from Milford, Surrey, set up Charlie's Promise to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives.

He said his most important target was to get the discussion of knife crime onto the school syllabus - and particularly in primary schools.

He has had two meetings with policing minister Dame Diana Johnson where he has called for this.

Gun and knife crime is not mentioned specifically in the part of the school syllabus focusing on relationships, sex and health.

But the government says teaching does focus on situations which lead young people to carry weapons, such as involvement in gangs and county lines drugs.

Mr Cosser has delivered more than 200 awareness talks in schools, and more than 10% of students reached have been at primary school.

"Children at that age are easily influenced," he said.

"They are like sponges, they want to learn."

He also told BBC South East how proud he is of the progress made so far.

"But there is so much more that we need to do," he added.

While the feedback he received from pupils, parents and teachers was "encouraging", he said there was "a lot of things they didn't know about knife crime".

Charlie Cosser's killer, Yura Varybrus, is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

A Government spokesperson said: "This government has committed to halving knife crime over the next decade – including identifying young people most at risk of being drawn into crime and creating a network of young futures hubs in communities across the country.

"We allow schools discretion to tailor the content of the curriculum to suit the threats that face their pupils, including focusing on knife crime".

"On top of this, we're investing over £50 million to fund specialist support in both mainstream and alternative provision schools in the areas where serious violence most impacts children."

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit the BBC Action Line.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.