Responsibility of everyone to help stop youth violence after teenagers are stabbed to death

Ronan Kanda, 16, died after being stabbed in Mount Road near his home in Lanesfield, near Coseley, on June 29.

A 20-year-old and two youths have appeared in Wolverhampton Crown Court charged with the murder.

An 18-year-old man was also arrested at an address in Birmingham on suspicion of murder on Wednesday morning and he remains in custody as police inquiries continue.

Another youngster – 15-year-old Zane Smart – was fatally stabbed in the Pendeford area in May with a 16-year-old being charged with his murder.

Police chiefs in Wolverhampton say they are working closely with other organisations to try and stamp out such violence.

Supt Simon Inglis, of Wolverhampton Police, said: "It is absolutely vital that we not only address the harm being caused here and now, but also that we work in partnership to prevent such horrendous losses of life moving forward.

“We are working closely with all agencies, but specifically the Violence Reduction Partnership, our schools, the youth offending team, public health and the council to ensure we change the culture of youth violence that appears to present at this time.

“Young people carrying weapons is resulting in people losing their lives at tragically young ages and we are committed to reducing this.

"We all have a responsibility as a community to help with this and we appreciate all the support we get to turn the tide on this tragic state of affairs.

“We are seeing reductions in youth violence and are in fact one of the best areas in the West Midlands for such behaviours.

"However as we have seen recently, we still have much more work to do and are committed to seeing short-term reductions turn into long-term solutions.”

It comes after leaders in the city have vowed to further work with others and explore “further initiatives” in a bid to tackle rising crime in the city.

Councillor Ian Brookfield, leader of Wolverhampton Council, added: "The tragic events which occured in Lanesfield last week and in Pendeford earlier this year have shocked the whole community, and our thoughts go out to the family and friends of the two young victims at what must be a truly awful time for them.

“As a responsible local authority, we remain committed to working with the police and other organisations to tackle the scourge of youth crime and make our streets safer.

"We have a range of initiatives under way to help achieve this, and thankfully the number of incidents of youth violence involving knife crime is actually falling year on year.

“While this is welcome, it is of course of no consolation to the families of those who have either been injured by, or lost their lives to, knife crime.

"That’s why it is our duty to ensure we are doing all we can to keep our citizens safe. We have commissioned a range of services delivered through the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership designed to prevent youth violence across the city, including outreach and targeted support.

"All young people are offered the appropriate level of support from children’s services if they are identified as being at risk of youth violence, exploitation or gang involvement.

"Our youth offending team have received specialist training so they can identify any risk of violence risk among the young people they work with, violence prevention work is commissioned within our primary and secondary schools, while coordinated support is provided to those schools with a higher prevalence of youth violence.

“We will also be delivering another extensive programme of Yo! activities over the summer holidays to keep our children active, engaged, entertained and out of trouble.

"But there is more that we can and will do – and we are in the process of completing a strategic needs assessment to help identify hotspots and any gaps in provision that may help address the problem."

He also encouraged people to speak up if they are concerned about the safety and wellbeing of a young person.

To share safeguarding concerns about a child or young person, call 01902 555392 or 01902 552999 out of hours.

In an emergency, dial 999