16 July 2018

Ensuring Ninestiles, an Academy is a safe community – Knife Crime Focus

Dear Parent/Carer,

Did you know?

Knife Crime

Knife crime includes any crimes that involve the use of a sharpened weapon or blade. It is illegal to sell or buy a knife to anyone who is under 18yrs old. Carrying a weapon to protect yourself is still a crime in the eyes of the law and in fact you are much more likely to become a victim of knife crime if you carry one. Possession of a knife can carry a prison sentence of up to 4 years even if it’s not used.

Knife Crime in Birmingham on the rise

Nearly 300 people were treated for knife wounds in Birmingham hospitals last year. This is the highest number for the last 5 years.

There have been several fatalities on our door steps.

Key Messages for our students:

Gun and knife crime includes stabbing or shooting someone. But it’s also illegal to:

• carry a knife
• threaten someone with a knife or gun
• commit a crime with the use of a weapon – like a robbery
• Commit a crime by pretending you have a real knife or gun.

If you carry a weapon, you are more likely to:

• be attacked or threatened by other gangs who use weapons
• be arrested by the police
• kill or injure yourself badly with your weapon
• hurt or kill others with your weapon
• hurt innocent people if a fight happens
• be charged with murder through joint enterprise if you’re at a place where someone is killed, even if you weren’t carrying the weapon

 So what are we doing at Ninestiles to make our students more aware of the dangers surrounding weapons and knife crime?

• West Midlands Police – recently the WMP have purchased a metal detector for 7 schools in East Birmingham to use. It cost over £5000. On Monday 16 July the detector is being used at Ninestiles and we are going to select a range of classes from all year groups to be searched and scanned.
• As part of this process, students get a 10 min presentation, delivered by PC Matt Kay, again highlighting the dangers of carrying weapons and more importantly understanding what action to take if you are aware someone in the community is carrying something they shouldn’t be.

We are being proactive as a school and are giving the students key messages and information that will prepare them to deal with such situations if they arise. There is not a knife crime issue at Ninestiles but it is vital we do not ignore this increasing issue in our community.

Please remember if you are suspicious about a student or over hear conversations that make you feel uneasy, please report this to any member of the DSL team at school; Mr Hughes, Mrs McGillicuddy, Mrs O’Toole or Mr Lewis. It may well be a false alarm but we are far better off to be safe than sorry.

If you would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me at school.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Alex Hughes-Vice Principal

PC Matt Kay