Cllr Sam Murray, of Ipswich Borough Council’s Castle Hill ward, launches campaign for knife crime strategy

A campaign calling for a knife crime strategy in a town has been launched by a councillor.

Cllr Sam Murray, who represents Ipswich’s Castle Hill ward, has launched a campaign calling for a knife crime strategy to be implemented across the borough.

A motion to agree to its implementation was brought to the council two years ago but was changed to focus on gangs and county lines as the main drivers behind knife crime.

Last month, a second motion was also eventually turned down — a week later, a stabbing took place which seriously injured a teenager.

Cllr Murray said: “Knife crime is not purely gang-related and it doesn’t only impact those directly involved.

“On the doorstep and generally going about my day, the top issue raised is crime in Ipswich and specifically knife crime — it has become common for someone to say that Ipswich is known for having more bleed kits than defibrillators.

“The strategy must include empowering our communities to live their lives free of fear and our residents need to feel equipped to respond effectively and safely should they find themselves faced with a knife-related incident.”

Behind the council’s decision to turn down last month’s motion was the fact a county-wide serious violence strategy had already been set up which led to county line activity going down ‘quite dramatically’ as a result.

There were also assurances the serious violence strategy was constantly updated and reviewed as a result of the sensitivity around the topic.

But Cllr Murray believes this not only ignores knife crime outside of gangs and county lines but also does not address the different needs of Ipswich’s urban setting when compared to rural districts across the county.

She said a knife crime strategy should follow the successes of those set up by other councils.

Elsewhere in Ipswich, the borough’s MP, Jack Abbott, has called for the creation of a Suffolk Knife Crime Coalition to deal with changing challenges and bring together political institutions, the police and other stakeholders.

Asked whether he supported Cllr Murray’s campaign, Mr Abbott said he was focused on delivering initiatives which addressed the issue.

He said: “Tackling knife crime in our county requires a collaborative, multi-agency approach and that’s why I’ll be working with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk and will engage with many experts from a variety of areas.

“Clearly, Ipswich Borough Council – while an important stakeholder – is not responsible for policing across Suffolk.”

Cllr Murray’s campaign can be found here.

Both representatives accused the other of playing politics with the topic.