'Life or knife?' – Family of schoolboy murdered in Wolverhampton join forces with police in battle on knife crime
"If somebody had reported my brother's killers for carrying a knife, he'd still be here today".
Those were the heartbreaking words of Nikita Kanda, the sister of Ronan, who was murdered in Wolverhampton.
Nikita and her family have joined forces with West Midlands Police to launch an anti-knife initiative.
Ronan Kanda, who was 16 years old, was just a few steps away from his home in the city when he was fatally stabbed in the back with a 20 inch ninja sword on June 29 last year in a case of mistaken identity.
His 17-year-old killers, Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill, were sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison following an appearance before Wolverhampton Crown Court in July.
Now, the family of the victim has collaborated with West Midlands Police to launch a video campaign which will serve as a warning to young people about the unseen impact of carrying a knife.
Aimed at 13 to 18 year olds, the "#lifeorknife" initiative consists of a series of video interviews featuring Ronan's sister, Nikita, which will run on social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Speaking in a video interview as part of the campaign, Nikita emphasised that her brother's death could have been avoided if his killers were reported for carrying a knife.
She said: "Everyone would describe Ronan as the boy with the biggest smile, the boy who would make anyone laugh, the boy who would kind of do anything for anybody.
"Nobody had a bad word to say about Ronan including Ronan's murderers. I think if you asked those two boys what they gained from it, they'd say they gained nothing. And they ruined their lives. And they ruined their families' lives. And they've absolutely destroyed our lives.
"Even though not in Ronan's case, if you are carrying a knife you are actually more likely to get into a knife incident. If you see your friend carrying one, there are confidential numbers you can call and not be identified yourself and you are saving your friends life from either being stabbed, or stabbing someone.
"If somebody had reported my brother's killers they would have been stopped in their tracks and my brother could have been here today."
Ch Insp John Askew, who leads Project Guardian, the West Midlands Police operation to reduce knife crime, added that the pain felt by Nikita's family will be "felt for generations".
He said: "Knife crime has unseen consequences on every single person involved. The distress caused to Nikita's family after the murder of her brother will be felt for generations to come, and it is this far-reaching impact that we really want to emphasise to teenagers across the West Midlands region.
"There is no bravado in carrying a blade when you are on the inside of a prison cell. The futility of irreversibly ruining lives for ever within a split second is not uppermost in the minds of most teenagers -– but it should be."
The social media campaign will run alongside Operation Sceptre, a nationwide week of action aimed at taking criminals and weapons off the streets.
West Midlands Police has advised people who want to speak anonymously about knife crime to call 0800 555111.
To find out more information about the initiative, visit lifeorknife.west-midlands.police.uk/
