Knife Angel of the North: Hull makes bid for iconic Shropshire statue

A group involving Humberside Police and spearheaded by Kayleigh Pepper, whose brother Richard was stabbed to death in the city, have launched the #NoMoreKnives campaign, in a bid to tackle and educate youngsters on the dangers of knife crime in Hull.

As part of the campaign, Kayleigh, along with PC Christian Sewell and PCSO Richard Whelan visited the British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry on Tuesday for discussions about potentially taking the Knife Angel, created by sculptor Alfie Bradley, to the north east.

Hull is one of a number of cities to show interest in the angel, after a bid to have it placed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square was rejected by the mayor of London.

The plan is to transport the angel to Hull, which is currently the UK city of culture, and place it in the city centre for families who have suffered the effects of knife crime to visit and leave memorials and pictures.

The group will now go back to Hull and discuss with the city of culture committee about putting a formal bid through to take the angel to the north.

Kayleigh, who is also from Hull, said: “We have just launched the campaign, and feel it would be good to have the Knife Angel in the city to highlight knife crime, and to educate people on the effects of knife crime.

“We have spoken with Clive Knowles at the centre, and as long as we can provide security and transport the Knife Angel, then we could take it to Hull.

Suffered

“Currently Hull is the city of culture until 2021, and there are still resources available to use to help us with taking the Knife Angel to Hull and we are confident we can do that. We want to put it somewhere in the city where people who have suffered from knife crime can go and pay respects, and add to it by leaving photos or anything in memory of their loved ones.”

Kayleigh launched the campaign after her brother was stabbed to death following a confrontation outside his home with Daniel Flatley on June 22, 2015, at the age of 25. Flatley was jailed for 11 years for manslaughter.

As part of the campaign she is hoping to get every single secondary school in Hull to pledge to sign up to the new police initiative which will see her, PSCO Whelan and PC Sewell, visit pupils to talk about the real impact knife crime can have.

Kayleigh added: “When you look at it, other areas have bigger problems with knife crime, but there is a problem with gang culture and in the last six months there has been 430 incidents and three fatalities.”

Mr Knowles, chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, added: “After the rejection from London it is very uplifting to see so many cities coming forward expressing their interest.

“It just shows the importance of it as the the issue of knife crime becomes more and more highlighted.”