The mother of Ava White has warned that knife crime laws have not changed since her daughter's death. Almost two years ago, schoolgirl Ava, aged 12, was stabbed to death by a 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Ava's heartbroken mum Leeann wants children as young as 12 to be searched for weapons. She insists new rules, which give police extra powers to search previous offenders for blades, do not go far enough as they can only be used on over-18s.
Speaking on if she sees any progress in knife crime laws, she said: “I don’t see a difference to be honest. The only thing I have seen is the new stop and searches coming in but again it needs to target younger people.
“It’s younger people who are carrying knives, as well as adults, and we need to be searching at least 12-year-olds.” New Serious Violence Reduction Orders which let police search known knife offenders are being trialled across four police forces including Merseyside, where Ava was killed in November 2021, The Mirror reports.
At the moment officers can stop and search any child or adult they have “reasonable grounds” to believe is carrying a weapon or drugs. Ava's mum believes that if wider stop and search powers had been in place two years ago “maybe Ava would still be here”.
Ava’s family also campaigned to install life-saving bleed packs across the city and want No10 to bring them in over the UK. On Sunday, Leeann watched a celebrity football match at Marine FC in Crosby in aid of anti-blade charities Weapons Down Gloves Up and No More Knives.
They included World Champion boxer Tony Bellew and former Liverpool stars Alan Kennedy and Neil Ruddock. Ava’s killer, who cannot be named, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 13 years last July.
