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An 11-year-old boy handed in an 18-inch long machete to a knife crime campaigner during an amnesty. Odane Cross, 28, was reduced to tears when the primary school pupil revealed his age after producing the deadly blade from inside his trouser leg. Mr Cross has launched a one-man knife amnesty in Reading, Berkshire, in response to an alarming spate of fatal stabbings in the area. He runs a Caribbean food takeaway delivery business and he is offering a 50 per cent discount to anyone who wants to hand in a blade. His Trade the Blade amnesty began over a week ago and so far he has collected 21 weapons that includes machetes, zombie knives, flick knives and samurai swords. ....
Police cordon in Dulnan Close, Reading - Pic by Paul King However, some residents believe that announcing a Section 60 order will have the opposite effect in preventing further violent crimes from happening. Some residents think more draconian measures should be used by having the Section 60 order in place all the time. John Campbell, Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, explained to the Reading Chronicle how he thinks the stop and search power is best used. He said We would never have a Section 60 in power all the time. That means a police officer in this country could stop anybody, any time for anything. I don t think anybody wants that, police certainly don t nor the community. ....
INTERVIEW We asked the police chief how they re tackling knife crime - this is what he told us KNIFE crime in Reading has never been more prevalent than it is now. The town has seen six stabbings so far this year tragically taking the lives of Olly Stephens, Raheem Hanif and Yannick Cupido. The question everybody has on their minds right now is why do stabbings keep on happening and what is the police doing about it? . Figures from Thames Valley Police show violence with injury was down 17 per cent in Reading from 2019 to 2020. However, this year alone Reading has seen more violent crime than ever. So we ask what is being done within our communities to tackle this violent crime in Reading? ....