Leanne Lucas helped several children run to safety in last summer’s Southport attack, despite having been stabbed five times herself, and is now calling for major change
A heroic dance teacher who survived the Southport attack and managed to help shield others despite being injured herself is urging knife manufacturers to switch to round-ended kitchen blades.
Leanne Lucas started campaigning for the change in the wake of the horrific knife attack which claimed the lives of three little girls in July last year. Leanne, 36, was the first person to dial 999 and was stabbed multiple times as she shielded children from killer Axel Rudakubana’s blows.
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were murdered, while eight other children and two adults were seriously injured.
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Speaking ahead of an anti-knife crime conference in London tomorrow, dance teacher Leanne said: “As my experience demonstrates, knife crime can happen to anyone, anywhere – and that’s why we all have a role to play in preventing it. When people ask me what they can do, my answer is simple but powerful: exchange your pointed tip kitchen knives for rounded ones.
“Pointed knives, sitting in our homes, can become weapons in the wrong hands. By making this small change, we can remove that risk and protect lives.”
The Southport resident founded her Let’s Be Blunt campaign earlier this year, and says the change is “one of many that can make a profound difference” to prevent knife crime. She went on: “Alongside improving safety measures among online retailers, it’s paramount that we safeguard ourselves by making pointed kitchen knives less available in our own homes.
“Every household has the power to take action today and help prevent a tragedy tomorrow. By switching to rounded kitchen knives, we can lead a consumer-driven movement that encourages manufacturers and retailers to stock safer alternatives.
“This simple choice reduces the availability of pointed-tip kitchen knives, which are far more dangerous and often used in violent incidents.”
The Reducing Knife Harm conference is due to hear from speakers including former judge Nic Madge, co-founder of the Safer Knives Group, that also campaigns for changes to kitchen knives. He said: “As a Circuit Judge, I tried many cases where people, often without thinking, grabbed the nearest weapon to hand – whether in a domestic argument or to take on to the street.
“My experience was that kitchen knives were the most common lethal weapon. Home Office statistics now confirm that, on average, two people are killed by kitchen knives every week, and that in homicides involving pointed weapons, more than half involve kitchen knives.
“It is the points of these knives that kill and cause life-threatening injuries. Knife crime is a complex issue with no single solution, but a simple change in kitchen knife design will save lives and reduce injuries.”
The conference is taking place at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
