{"id":462028,"date":"2026-03-07T05:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T05:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/462028\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T05:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T05:32:10","slug":"i-stabbed-a-teenager-in-the-neck-heres-my-message-for-people-who-carry-knives-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/462028\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I stabbed a teenager in the neck – here’s my message for people who carry knives’ | UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Resting on young shoulders, a white coffin is carried through a youth centre in southeast London.<\/p>\n

The scene looks like a funeral. That is the intention – but it is something else entirely.<\/p>\n

Inside the coffin is a large sculpture: a bloodied knife carved with the skyline of London. The imagery is stark.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

Image:
\n This is a carefully constructed act, confronting a real and ongoing issue<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Image:
\n The central piece of the installation<\/p>\n

A group gathers around the coffin to take it in. Some of them are in tears.<\/p>\n

It forms part of a new anti-knife crime project titled Re-claim, created by multimedia artist Eugene Ankomah and designed to shine a light on teenagers “lost to the streets”.<\/p>\n

Mr Ankomah says the reaction from some visitors has been emotional.<\/p>\n

\"Eugene<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Eugene Ankomah believes his artwork can help play a part in reducing knife crime<\/p>\n

“I have had young people who have carried knives in the past come into this venue, and some of them have broken down crying,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That’s what I want. I want them to have a change of heart, a change of mind.”<\/p>\n

The installation, based at the Salmon Youth Centre in Bermondsey, takes visitors along what Mr Ankomah describes as an “incident trail”, guiding them through a simulated crime scene.<\/p>\n

One young person, dressed in a forensic suit, explains: “The idea is for visitors to experience what a crime scene feels like.”<\/p>\n

Mr Ankomah recognises parts of the project may be difficult for some people, but says “this installation is consciously confrontational”.<\/p>\n

“This is a fight, and we have to keep fighting in every possible way,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The more innovative it is, I think the better.”<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Michael Jibowu was jailed for stabbing a teenager<\/p>\n

The campaigner who was jailed for knife attack<\/p>\n

Inside the main installation room we meet Michael Jibowu, who once carried a knife himself.<\/p>\n

In 2022, he was jailed for stabbing a teenager three times in the neck. His victim survived.<\/p>\n

Four years on, Mr Jibowu now campaigns to raise awareness about knife crime.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old said he has a direct message for those who carry knives.<\/p>\n

“Every single person I know that’s carried a knife, they’ve either ended up dead or in a prison cell. Take it from me, I’ve gone to prison for stabbing someone.<\/p>\n

“You don’t have to listen to me, but the choice is yours. If you want to carry a knife, be ready for the consequences. I’m not saying it to scare you, I’m saying [the] reality.”<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

Image:
\n In one room are photographs, messages and teddy bears, echoing the makeshift memorials often left at murder scenes<\/p>\n

The latest figures show knife crime has fallen over the past year, dropping below pre-pandemic levels, but offences are still more than 50% higher than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

The government has committed to halving knife crime within a decade as part of its Plan for Change strategy.<\/p>\n

But Mr Jibowu believes statistics alone cannot explain the issue.<\/p>\n

“Data helps,” he said. “But we need to understand the individual, why they are carrying knives. The key question we have to ask ourselves is why?”<\/p>\n

\"Sylvia<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Sylvia Kane describes her son’s passing as a ‘life imprisonment’<\/p>\n

Helping heal knife victim’s mother<\/p>\n

It is a question Sylvia Kane has been asking for two decades.<\/p>\n

Her son, Eugene, was 16 when he was stabbed to death in Mitcham, south London, in 2006.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Image:
\n A photo of Sylvia’s son, Eugene, is displayed at the installation<\/p>\n

Kane says engaging with projects like this is painful, but also part of her healing.<\/p>\n

“I think artwork like what Eugene Ankomah has done can stop knife crime because it is so powerful,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It is so visual. It touches your emotions in a way that other campaigns may not be able to.”<\/p>\n

Whether initiatives like this can influence behaviour is difficult to measure.<\/p>\n

What they do offer, however, is space for reflection, community and dialogue – and perhaps, for some, a chance to choose a different path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Resting on young shoulders, a white coffin is carried through a youth centre in southeast London. The scene…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-462028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}