We’re not at war, but children here arm themselves with deadly knives, machetes and Rambo blades before heading off to school. They could’ve picked them up for a fiver from a shop, or online for as little as a bag of sweets.
As a knife crime hotspot hit hard by youth cuts, the UK’s fourth highest poverty rate and soaring school exclusions, we’re suffering more than most here in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Day in, day out, horrifying videos circulate online as sons, brothers and dads are stabbed. Another day, another stabbing outside a school, college, or in the streets.
We tell the stories of family heartache, the communities left shattered and parents terrified their kids will be the next victim. But how did we end up in this crisis - and is there a way out?
Now, with exclusive data unearthed by our Data Unit, we’ve delved deeper behind the headlines to understand the root causes of knife crime. In our three-month investigation we’ve:
Three young people, three very different stories - but their messages are key to grasping the roots of knife crime
Ken
Adam
Kyle*
We know we can’t solve knife crime, but we hope if you do one thing today, you’ll take the time to understand the extent of the problem - and why it’s vital we all do what we can to protect our kids.
Whether that’s donating to keep a lifeline youth club running, ditching the knife, buying a bleed control kit for a hotspot area, understanding the signs of grooming - or even simply opening up a conversation with your child, we hope we can chip away at the problem.
Read our five key asks to see how you can help
We’ve seen how easily our kids are being exploited, groomed and forced into gangs with cruel tactics and even blackmail using Snapchat or Instagram. Lured in with seemingly-harmless drugs like cannabis or ‘gummies’, schoolkids are being used as foot soldiers to take all the risk.
Their punishment? A ‘slap on the wrist’ at court before they’re back on the streets with a knife the very next day. This, we believe, urgently needs to change to send a real deterrent to young kids.
Terrified or keen to gain ‘status’, these youths believe everyone is carrying a weapon.
New police data shows weapon possession has doubled in the West Midlands since the pandemic, with Birmingham worst affected in the region.
But it’s a myth that every youth is armed. Research actually suggests it’s more like four per cent of young people.
It’s this fear, and the false idea weapons offer protection, that perpetuates the problem. Many fail to realise they’re 78 per cent more likely to be stabbed themselves if they’re carrying a knife.
Shockingly, our data found knife crime suspects in the region last year were largely aged between ten and 19. Two were under the age of ten.
Chillingly, within a few clicks online, we were able to find knives aimed at kids being sold for just £1.90 - the price of sweets. No questions were asked, no ID needed. As soon as we got in touch, SHEIN vowed to take action against the seller and removed the listing.
But machetes and kitchen knives are also being sold for just £5 in shops keen to make money, police say. It’s why we’re calling for unlimited fines for anyone selling knives to children.
These knives were available to buy in a few clicks online for £1.90 each
Social media is a major influence too as children pose up with weapons, threaten one another and escalate bullying online. This then bleeds into the real world as we see online confrontations materialise.
These violent scenes are filmed, with traumatic footage uploaded almost instantly for all to see. It's all part of a wider "badman" culture that's become rife online, one reformed gang member told us.
Police themselves told us how social media and gaming are also being used to groom kids, with offers of high-end trainers, get-aways and fast cash. One police sergeant even likened the internet as leaving kids “outside to fend for themselves.” It’s why we’re calling for people to ensure parental controls or restrictions are applied to their children’s phones.
Some are even tricked into sending explicit photos before gangs blackmail them: “It will be posted on Snapchat or Instagram if you don't do this.” We’re also urging parents and carers to recognise the key signs of grooming and exploitation their kids are facing.
We found the problem of knife crime was worse here than in most parts of the country, in part because of its young population, but also the high levels of poverty, coupled with the rapidly declining provision for young people over the years.
More than four in ten kids are living in poverty - now totalling over 100,000 children. Add that to the fact they have ‘nothing to do and nowhere to go’, and that’s bound to worsen as summer holidays hit.
Youth workers here in the West Midlands find kids aged 11 loitering the streets in balaclavas with nothing to do, vaping and having eaten nothing but cereal all day. Birmingham Council spending is now down to just £11 per child, compared with the £34 national average.
They are kids who are being groomed in some of the region’s poorest areas while their parents work to make ends meet. Children who, without a thought for possible consequences, are told: 'Sell this on this corner and you'll make £1,000.'
And worryingly, statistics unearthed by our Data Unit show school exclusions and suspensions have been soaring since the pandemic. In the last autumn term, 3.5 per cent of state secondary school kids were suspended at least once. That’s up 64 per cent since the term before the lockdown 2019/20.
Persistent disruptive behaviour was the most common reason for suspension and expulsion, but offensive weapons were the reason for 176 suspensions and 15 permanent exclusions in the autumn term.
We found tight-knit communities and relentless mums offering a lifeline to kids. We found inspirational youth workers who have turned their back on their life of crime - proof there is always a way out, if kids are given the opportunities they so desperately need.
It’s why we’re now calling on the Government to prioritise youth funding, particularly after-school clubs, to ensure kids are safe and off the streets. A Birmingham Says No club running in Handsworth once had Home Office funding, but that’s now run out, forcing it to close.
We need more of these clubs, not less. Support them here.
West Midlands Police say knife crime is down, with additional funding and resources being ploughed into knife crime; ranging from school visits and extra patrols to the work of Op Guardian.
Serious youth violence is said to be down 11 per cent, while knife crime has fallen by six. Statistically, you’re now less likely to be a victim of crime, but we agree wholeheartedly with Chief Constable Craig Guildford: "Any offence is one too many."
Ken was 14 when he was drawn into gang culture
Ken was just 14 when he was drawn into gang culture. Growing up in Longbridge, he had been sheltered from that lifestyle.
That was, until kids excluded from inner city schools were moved to his and they became friends.
Influenced by the wrong people, he began carrying a knife, was involved in a street robbery and at one stage, found himself three hours from home, trapped dealing drugs for a county line operation.
Sadly, his story is not unique in Birmingham, and shows just how easily good kids are lured deep into gangs before they can realise.
Ken was one of the lucky ones to survive and come out the other side unharmed. Two of his friends were killed.
Turning his back on crime in a long and hard journey with the help of social services and Birmingham Children's Trust, he’s since pursued his music career and even performed at the city's Commonwealth Games.
Here, 20-year-old Ken speaks candidly to us in a story of fear and hope, and one that proves there’s always a way out.
Q: How did your teenage years look?
A: When I was younger, the only time I'm really socialising with people is when I'm at school and maybe one hour after school times - it was just that one hour before I had to go home.
Obviously, in year 11 when I started to get a bit more freedom, I was meeting new people - some were getting kicked out other schools from other areas and started joining my school.
Longbridge - the area I'm from, it's not really a gang area, it's a calm area.
So for me, I didn't really have the links to even know about that lifestyle. Until one of my friends that I knew from year 7 got kicked out and moved from a different area.
He'd experienced a gang life whether he was from and when he came back, he bought that same energy and started to tell us certain stories.
That's when I started to know, like, okay, 'people get stabbed, people carry knives and stuff like this.' Like, I knew people died. But people living a gang life, I didn't really know about that.
Q: So what were you thinking about that lifestyle, surely it's off-putting knowing that people get stabbed? Why would you want to be a part of that?
A: Even though I was hearing that it was scary, people die... when you're first doing it, like me, I was just living a life where I'm just having fun.
I'm just chilling, 'chilling', that's the word. You're just having a 'Vibe' around certain people.
It's not like I was saying in my brain: 'I want to become a gang member, I want to start doing this. I want to start doing that.'
It's just more you're chilling and you're comfortable in a certain environment, that atmosphere starts to grip you in, drawing you in slowly and slowly without you knowing.
You don't realise that your character's changing, the way you're dressing is changing, the way I was talking to my parents is changing. It's more of a slow pull and a slow change that I didn't realise.
Q: What does that word "chilling" mean for you? How did that look?
A: Chilling in Birmingham is; there's females around you, you're smoking, they're having fun, you're Vibing.
I started to see other people doing street robberies; taking phones, taking pouches. I was like, 'you lot can do whatever you want around me, but I'm not gonna do it'.
I never thought I would do it.
Q: Did you end up carrying a knife and doing those things?
A: You can't expect to be around something for so long and see something with your eyes, and not end up doing it.
Let's say around year 11 times, I'm chilling around certain people that are known gang members. I met this one person from Handsworth.
I ended up having an argument with one of my friends. Now during this argument, I'm chilling with this guy from Handsworth and I started to feel that protection.
I'm having an argument with this friend, and this guy from Handsworth grabs the phone and is like: 'You're not gonna touch him, nothing's gonna happen, like I've got him'.
So I'm looking at him like 'okay, big man, you can just talk to people like that and people are gonna listen'.
That's the first time that I saw authority being used in a certain way that I've never seen it being used before. This was authority where it's like, someone knows you've got credibility in the streets because you've done certain things and you are who you are, you have a certain fear.
So from that day I looked at my friend from Handsworth and I said to him: 'I wanna start carrying a weapon so I don't ever become a victim.'
He said to me, 'don't do that because if you start carrying a weapon and you start thinking like that, you will become a victim', but like I didn't really understand that until years later on when I started to lose friends and getting into situations where I'm risking my life.
Q: So you carried a knife then, were you ever hurt yourself?
A:Yes I carried a knife, but thank God I was never injured. There were situations where I nearly died. There was one crazy situation where I ended up getting involved in county lines.
You know how you see short films, where the people that send you have an evil plan to get you robbed so you can become in debt? That's the sort of story that I had.
Ken who did carry a knife when involved with gangs
Q: Was that story the worst point?
A: That's not even the worst, that's just me putting myself in a dumb situation.
The worst point was just before my friends died, that's when it all started to get bad.
Long story short, I did a robbery. As soon as my mum left the house, I get a call from three of my friends.
They're like: 'We're in the area now, we're doing this robbery'. I was thinking: 'Oh my Gosh, I didn't plan to do this today right now.'
So these guys are two guys really known for what they do and I'm from Longbridge, it's like I was the little fish in that situation and it's like: They're already in an area. They know I'm home.
The person that I robbed was friends with someone that I was friends with. So when I've done this robbery, they even were saying that I betrayed them.
So I was stuck up all the way in Handsworth and I couldn't come back to Longbridge because I was thinking: 'If I come back then I'm gonna get hurt.'
So that's when I really got bad because I started to realise like, 'yo, this is deeper than just me.'
Because I've done something and this has caused people to want to come to my house and hurt my family, hurt me and at the same time, I can't even go back to my area.
Q: What were your parents saying?
A: My parents were really worried because I was a good kid. What you show inside the house is like never what you really are outside, really and truly.
Like when I done this thing and I ran away for a week, they got scared to the point where they called the missing unit.
I had the police for calling me and everything saying like 'your mom and dad are looking for you.'
When I got back home, I had no choice but to explain exactly everything that happened because I didn't know what was going to happen next after that.
Q: When did social services come into your life?
A:Just before I've lost my friend, I got this big knife and it was so weird, I was so fascinated by the weapon, the way it looked and everything. I just always had it on me.
I used to go college with that weapon because everyone in that college was gang members. And bro, there was people bringing guns in that college that I knew, so I was bringing my weapon as well just in case.
When this period of time was happening and my mum found a weapon, that's when social services and Birmingham Children's Trust got in touch. I went into a program where I started to learn about music and I was going to events like the anniversary for the Trust.
Q: How did that feel to be performing at the Commonwealth Games?
A: That gave me so much hope and when I went there it was just beautiful because I'm being treated like that. It gave me hope and gave me a vision and an insight for the future that I could be having - and that I am having now.
Q: What would you say are the three changes we need in society?
1. You need more people that are willing to work alongside youths, people who are just vulnerable and need help for as long as they need them to work with them for.
So if it takes five years for that child to fully go through the journey of learning new habits. We need people that are willing to put their whole heart and invest into someone until that investment pays off.
2. A lot of people don't have an identity. So that's why I would say you have a lot the same crisis going on everywhere. In Birmingham, you could say everyone dresses the same that's involved in that life, everyone listens to the same music, everyone hangs around the same place; that's exactly what makes everyone be the same because everyone is doing the same things.
Everyone is just becoming the same people and no one has an identity, everyone is trying to follow each other. People need to find their identity because if they don't, they will get lost.
3. People need to really work on their mental health, people need to stop brushing things under the surface because every human on this Earth has issues that they go through, everyone has pain.
Driving in the back of a police van through Birmingham’s knife hotspots, we’re hit with the hard truth from those who see it first hand. Children are being exploited, both online and in person, kids hide their knives to pick up after school and drugs, particularly cannabis, serve as a 'gateway' into a life of crime.
As we travel through Sparkhill, Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath and Highgate, we see and hear the front line experiences of Sgt Varley and Inspector Kate Jeffries during a shift with Operation Guardian - the taskforce cracking down on gangs and exploitation.
Sgt Varley, West Midlands Police
"We had one in Handsworth where we saw two young lads passing something between them in the stairwell of a community centre,” Sgt Varley explains.
"It turned out to be a kitchen knife without a handle; they'd somehow pulled the blade out so it's just a small metal bit to hold onto; maybe so it's easier to conceal.
"They were 13-years-old." Our data, too, highlights that knife possession in the West Midlands largely involves young people aged between ten and 19, with the number of suspects in that category far surpassing any other.
"A lot of what we find is children with kitchen knives, both small and larger blades, Rambo and Zombie knives," the officer continues. Most, however, "don't know how to use them” and will have picked them up for “a fiver”.
Demonstrating his point, he recalls: "There was one recently in Wolverhampton where this lad attacked another with a machete, then tried to hide it away and stabbed himself, hit a major artery.”
1. Grooming of young children as 'foot soldiers'
2. Social media glamorisation
3. Exploitation online
4. Disrespect towards police
5. Postcode rivalry between gangs
6. Shopkeepers selling knives to children
7. Lenient sentencing for kids caught with knives
8. Ill-fitting legislation designed for over 18s
As we patrol hotspot areas for suspicious youths carrying knives, I ask about the correlation between poverty - which we found affects more than four in ten kids here in Birmingham. The city also now has the fourth highest rate of child poverty of any local authority in the UK.
"It's not the case that 'if you are from this area you are going to be involved in criminality,'" Sgt Varley insists.
"But let me put it this way, if you are from somewhere in Handsworth or somewhere like here, where you're probably renting, your family are just about making ends meet and someone says to you:
"It's not necessarily saying you're going to go for it because you're poor. But it's just that fast cash, it's attractive."
It all starts with the grooming, however. "They will be taken away places, or bought high-end trainers and they commit crime for that," he adds.
"What job is going to pay you £1,000s a day? To them, they don't know what it's going to lead to until they're lying dead on a street somewhere - or in a prison cell.
"Poverty plays a part in some aspects, but it's the temptation of all that money. Some of it is also status, if you have that gang affiliation, they think they have their protection."
But once in a gang, or gang-affiliated, there's the problem of postcode rivalry, sparking the series of stabbings we often see.
"Rival gangs will go to enemy territory just to p*** them off. Usually if there's a stabbing between one gang to another, it's just a waiting game for a retribution attack to happen.”
"Others go into their areas to cause trouble, some might go into an area and will be hassled by people asking: 'Where you from, where you from?'
"And then they'll rob them - but those are rarer cases. It's mostly always someone they have a criminal link to. It's usually over money."
Throughout the day, a major barrier between youths and police becomes clear as a group verbally abuse officers for no reason. As soon as officers arrive, people are quick to pull out their phones and start filming, giving offenders the audience they thrive off.
“They are bred to hate us really so it's trying to break down that barrier,” he says.
"It just shows people don't respect us, so what message does that send if we just sit there and take it?"
Social media is another "massive part" of the problem, he says, with young people using platforms like Snapchat to glorify knives and scare others.
"It's glorified, all these things are," he explains. "We are getting a lot on Snapchat; people taking pictures of themselves with zombie knives and putting that out there.
"It's either because they want to feel big, status or protection. Teens are going after each other over confrontation online, that then bleeds into real life.
"They film stabbings, film themselves beating people up and post it online."
Describing Australia's ban on social media for under 16s as "brilliant", he adds: "There's predators that prey on kids that are just given an iPad, or given a phone and parents say 'here you go, leave me alone.'
"They're in their room and it's like kicking them outside and leaving them to fend for themselves - that's the equivalent of it, being a kid on social media, because they don't know what's right and what's wrong.”
Gangs will also pose as girls on Snapchat and use sexual content to blackmail kids into running drugs.
“They film them performing a sexual act and it will be posted on Snapchat or Instagram if you don't do this.' They are basically like prisoners,” he said.
Another major problem is the flow of weapons coming into the country, along with the shopkeepers selling to underage children.
"I could go in and buy a Rambo knife if I wanted to."
"It could be that they are legitimate businesses but they are selling to young people,” added Sgt Varley.
"I could go in and buy a Rambo knife if I wanted to. These shopkeepers just sell to kids to make money. We need to prevent them from coming into the country.
"We are trying to get together now, there's a team building intelligence on knife selling, we need to go for the source."
Asked what needs to change Insp Jeffries, who heads up the team, suggests:
Sgt Varney adds: "Everyone is as strained and under-resourced as us, so kids are bound to slip through the cracks.
"But it's not just under 18s, there are 20-year-olds who are well versed in it that are just horrible people and just go out to commit crime."
Chillingly, within a few clicks online we were able to source - and buy - knives for just £1.90 each. No ID needed, not a single check as the delivery was pushed through the letterbox.
As part of our probe, we tried three different websites online to see how easy it is to purchase potentially lethal blades. Two of the sites, Amazon and Knifewarehouse.co.uk, both needed ID to be uploaded to provide proof we were over 18.
However, within a quick search for 'knives' on SHEIN, the first hit brought up a range of small, but sharp 'multi-colour' blades seemingly aimed at children. They cost the same price as a bag of sweets.
When the knives arrived, they were simply posted through the door in a branded SHEIN bag and left in the hallway on the floor.
After we got in touch with SHEIN to raise the worrying issue, the company highlighted that their site contains listings from multiple sellers. The company removed the listing from its website and vowed to take “appropriate action” against the seller.
We checked before publishing this to make sure and they are no longer for sale or available to buy.
Knives we purchased from SHEIN
Advertised as claw knives, the 8cm curved blades came in multiple colours and designs. They were even given names like 'Roaring Fire Dragon' and 'Black Shark'.
To make matters even worse, they had undergone a "price drop" from £4 to £1.90, with SHEIN advertising the fact more than 100 had already been purchased.
In a statement to BirminghamLive, SHEIN said: "In 2024, Shein removed all knives from its UK platform. The company has since implemented safeguards to prevent third-party sellers from listing these items.
"In the rare instance that a vendor manages to bypass these controls, SHEIN will promptly remove the listing and take appropriate action against the seller.”
To further understand the problem, we interviewed a Birmingham City University expert who is among those currently researching knife crime to help inform the police approach.
Psychology lecturer Natasha Pope
A mum to two teenage boys herself, psychology lecturer Natasha Pope told us: "Young people are very, very scared of other young people, a lot of that's to do with this anticipation that they're going to come to harm directly.
"They do believe that all people their age are carrying knives. So it's fuelling this misconception that: 'Everybody else is carrying so I need to do something to protect and defend myself.'"
Music videos online and social media posts - such as stabbings or youths posing with knives - also fuel the fears everyone is armed. But in reality, research from the Youth Endowment Fund suggests it's more like four per cent of young people who carry weapons.
"If young people are consistently exposed to social media inputs, it can also increase the fear or perception that young people are carrying a knife.
"Again it's a desensitisation as well, not only it's a risk it could be normalising it, but also potentially desensitising them to this. They see what happens online and it almost becomes a script - seeing someone has a knife and thinking 'they could use it against me'.
"It's what they're exposed to, seeing things online, all the discussions they're privy to, all this reinforces that it is a problem for young people. If we look at music videos, it's what they're involved in and exposed to in their environments."
Such ‘drill music’ videos have been shown in high-profile court cases - including a triple shooting at a wake in Handsworth last year. Enemy gangs, such as the 9Boyz and Armed Response, use the rap videos to threaten one another, typically uploading them to YouTube, Snapchat or even sent directly to rivals.
Where race is concerned, national data found Black people and other ethnic minority groups are "disproportionately likely" to be killed in a stabbing. Homicide victims were most likely to be killed by someone of their own ethnicity.
We asked Natasha’s advice for parents worried about their children. She suggested: "It's about having a more empathetic conversation, understanding the pressures and challenges their young person is facing or what they're engaging in, their friendship groups.
"Making sure that young person feels it's a safe space to confide in and share their feelings and concerns.
"It's about opening up the conversation and not making them so overly concerned and worried about how their parents are going to react, as that could deter them from coming forward."
If you have a knife, surrender it now in one of the dedicated bins across the West Midlands. We’ve created the map below to show exactly where these can be disposed of anonymously.
We found lenient sentencing is a major part of the problem, with children or so-called "foot soldiers" being let off for carrying deadly weapons. At Birmingham’s youth court we watched as children who should be out playing, instead took their seat before a judge for carrying knives.
Tracksuit clad teenagers as young as 14 sat beside worried mums, dads, grandparents and care workers to hear their fate. Of all the cases we saw, all walked back out the same door they came through; either with cautions or referral orders.
⬤ Aspiring Uni student armed himself with combat knife
⬤ Teen waited for a crowd after school to attack boy in bullying campaign
⬤ Teen repeatedly punched bus driver before knife threat
⬤ Others charged with robbery, attempted robbery and assaults
We crunched the numbers and immediate custody was still the most common outcome for knife offenders - including adults - in the West Midlands.
But our investigation found:
In a shocking case this month, a boy of 17 was told he was 'lucky' to avoid prison after wielding a large machete in a 20-person disorder outside The Ramp McDonald's.
The youth, who cannot be named due to his age, was sentenced to a 12-month referral order as he had no previous convictions. Though he was on police bail at the time amid robbery and assault allegations.
Our data showed first time knife offenders like this, as to be expected, were also more likely to avoid jail and be handed a caution or community sentence.
One of the issues is that kids under 18 - the largest proportion of knife offenders - are those most likely to be handed cautions or community sentences.
A 17-year-old victim himself told us how he was stabbed by a group of youths in a 15-on-one ambush. It entailed punches, kicks and a knife attack outside Birmingham's landmark Bullring. The trauma, alongside his injuries, crushed his dreams and shattered his future.
Yet three of his attackers, all younger than 18, were handed a suspended sentence or a 12 month community order at court. The others weren't found.
As part of our asks, we’re calling for tougher sentencing for those carrying, and using knives.
In response to the calls, a Government spokesperson said: “Knife crime is a national crisis and as part of our mission to halve knife crime in a decade, we have already banned the sale of zombie style knives.
“We will continue to tackle the root cause of knife crime on our mission to make streets safer - a vital component in our Plan for Change.”
In 2024 in the West Midlands, the following were sentenced for knife crimes:
224 10-15 year olds
292 16-17 year olds
1,766 adults
Children are also now less likely to be given a caution or sentenced, with fewer than half children sentenced in 2023/24 than in 2019/20. And we found suspects in the West Midlands are less likely to be charged for carrying knives than average across the UK.
One teenage defendant, aged 17, appeared at the court alongside his mum as their family were issued a serious "wake up call".
The aspiring University student, who is studying A-Levels, was rumbled carrying a combat knife in a police station search after a car he was travelling in was stopped.
As it was his first conviction, and he pleaded guilty to knife possession at the first opportunity, he was given a referral order instead of immediate prison.
Sentencing, Chair of the bench, Dee Chapman, warned the teen: "You have let yourself down appallingly. Obviously, you are an intelligent young man who has the potential to be someone that a mother could be proud of.
"We have a picture of this weapon. It is a combat knife, it is only used for one reason; to kill, maim or hurt someone.
“The fact that you were actually carrying it, you bought it and you were walking around with it, it was very lucky for you that you were arrested and found with it. Because if not, you might have actually used it and this future ahead of you would have been bleak.
"You might have actually taken a life." He was given a 12-month referral order - the most-used community sentence for youths, with the aim to stop reoffending. Chair Chapman added: "This is your first offence and hopefully your last."
His mum was ordered to pay £111, £85 court costs and £26 victim surcharge as he was told the young offending team would be in contact.
In a separate case, another teen, who is visibly small for his age, gazes up at the impressive 18th century ceiling as he sits in court charged with possession of the class B drug. He speaks only to confirm his name, address and date of birth at Birmingham Magistrates Court.
He’s just 15-years-old but finds himself before a judge, being warned of the serious criminal gangs who use drugs to exploit kids.
After being caught with cannabis resin in Solihull the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was told he "did not appear to understand the risk that cannabis can pose."
"It is an unfortunate misunderstanding but cannabis is often used as a tool to exploit young men,” the judge told him as we visited the city’s youth court.
“You will have your own view on cannabis, but you should understand a few things.
"First of all, it is illegal. If you engage in these crimes, you will be arrested by police.
"With cannabis, they might be your friends or young people, but behind them are serious criminals who do a lot of crime to be able to sell the cannabis. They give it to young men to get them to work for them. Once you're in that, you can't get out.
"What you see is a bit of weed, but there is a lot more to it than that."
Issuing a caution, the judge ordered no court costs as this would have to be handed to his mother, rather than the boy himself.
The judge said: "It is not your mother's fault but I order her to pay £26 victim surcharge. I know you think it is not serious, the courts disagree and the police disagree. Hopefully we will never meet again."
Mum of son whose killer is now free
Adam Cusack
In a senseless loss of young life that once shocked Birmingham back in 2010, three killers chased 21-year-old Adam Cusack down a blind alley in Erdington.
He was trapped before a teenage boy plunged a deadly 'Rambo-style' knife into his chest, leaving him to die alone in Kingsbury Road.
Jordan Subhan
That teenager, Jordan Subhan, was 17 at the time, and received a lesser sentence for murder accounting for his age. Had he been just months older, he would have been locked up for 23 years instead of 14.
“The sentencing doesn't fit the crime they've committed. There's just no punishment,” fumed Adam’s mum, Karen Cusack.
"If you're caught with a knife, you've got to be sentenced, you've got to have a decent punishment. If not, they've done it once and think: 'Sod it, I'll do it again.’”
Subhan was released on parole in April this year, leaving Adam's mother Karen nothing short of devastated as she's forced to visit her own son in a graveyard.
Adam's mother Karen
"It's just devastating to think he's got a life. He can just move on with his and we're just still stuck," she told us.
"We can't have our life back, my life will never be the same. Adam will never get his life back and yet he's still free to walk the streets."
“It's horrible to think he's walking the streets, to think he's probably got a job, a car, he's learning to drive, probably looking for a girlfriend and is going to get married, have kids."
Karen fought to keep Subhan locked up, citing the ongoing devastation of knife crime here in 2025 among her reasons. But she added: "The grounds weren't good enough to keep him in there.
"I got a friend to put into words for me that, the amount of knife crime still going on, it's still happening. Knife crime isn't getting any better is it?"
As part of our investigation, we interviewed District Crown Prosecutor James Leslie Francis, who works with the Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation (SVOCE) - a unit that aims to tackle the underlying causes of serious youth violence.
We asked whether cautions worked as a deterrent for young offenders, what are the main defences used in court and crucially, what he believes can be done to reduce knife crime across the region.
He told us:
"One of the most alarming aspects is how quickly a single decision to carry or use a knife can result in devastating, life-altering consequences for victims and offenders alike,” he told us.
“Some of the most memorable cases have involved very young defendants or victims, which really brings home the devastating consequences of carrying a knife even if a person never initially intends to wield it."
Young people often say they carry knives out of the fear others are armed. Peer pressure, gang involvement and exploitation are also common themes he sees day-to-day.
"It’s not unusual to see young defendants dealing with difficult home lives, exclusion from education or a history of trauma,” he added.
"These factors don’t excuse offending but they are part of the wider context we must understand when making decisions to prosecute.”
While he couldn’t comment on the effectiveness of sentences, he highlighted that they work closely with youth offending teams and others to “ensure people are given the right sentence.”
He said: "For some, a caution or community sentence can be a turning point but it depends on the individual and the support they receive."
The prosecutor called for a “joined-up response” across society in order to reduce knife crime further across the region.
“Enforcement is essential, but so is early intervention, education and support,” he added.
"At the Crown Prosecution Service, we focus on fair and considered prosecutions but where possible, we also engage with local communities and educators to deliver clear messages about the law and the consequences of crime including knife crime.”
Parliament sets the statutory maximum sentence for offences and in some cases, including some knife-crime related offences, the minimum sentence, The Sentencing Council told us.
Three sentencing guidelines relevant to knife crime, which reflect the maximum and minimum terms, came into effect in 2018.
A decade ago, knife crime would have been considered a ‘shock’, but now people feel it’s just another headline. Another month, another tragedy on city streets.
But behind every single story we write, there’s a real family torn apart, never to be the same again. Their children’s bedrooms often stand still in time, preserved exactly as they were all those years ago when they were living.
We spoke to victims across an eleven-year period and found that despite the common misconception ‘time heals’, for families of knife crime the anguish is never-ending as they grapple with the reasons their loved ones were taken with such violence.
Here, we speak to the mum behind Ronan’s Law - new legislation focused on stricter controls for knife sales in memory of Ronan Kanda - who was killed with a ninja sword bought online.
Mum of teen murdered in mistaken identity killing
Innocent Ronan was just 16-years-old when he was killed
On a summer's evening, a schoolboy walked towards his Wolverhampton home having popped out to buy a PlayStation remote from a friend. Happy, popular and bright Ronan Kanda played music through his headphones as he walked along his street in broad daylight.
Moments later, he would be brutally murdered as a masked thug plunged a Ninja sword through his heart. Innocent Ronan was just 16-years-old when he was killed in a harrowing case of mistaken identity that shocked the nation in 2022.
Ronan Kanda
But fast forward nearly three years to 2025 and lives are still being ripped apart by knife crime - with the tragic death of 12-year-old Leo Ross now a chilling reminder of just how young victims have become.
"Look at the innocent children we've lost after Ronan," fumes Pooja Kanda, vocal anti-knife campaigner and proud mother to Ronan. "It's horrible, it's disgraceful, it's disgusting, it's unacceptable."
It's hoped Ronan's Law - a 'tough' new crackdown on knife sales online in her son's name - will act as a barrier to prevent youths arming themselves with lethal weapons as they were able to so easily in his case.
In an issue spiralling for many years, knife crime has now become a "trend" ,Pooja suggests, with youths proud to carry a knife and to take a life. A wider "bad-man culture" where teens want to "look cool" is also infecting generations today, she says.
In Ronan's case, masked killers Prabjeet Veadhesa, who wielded the murder weapon and Sukhman Shergill, his accomplice, were trying to kill their intended target over a £200 'debt'.
Justice for Ronan
They will now spend the start of adulthood behind bars.
“Every day it feels like the sword has penetrated my heart and I can't even take it out, it's just there, 24/7,” she continued. "No child at this age needs these weapons in their hands.
Tragically, families and communities across Birmingham and beyond have been suffering in the same way for decades now. We visited anti-knife crime campaigner Alison Cope to hear how society has changed in the 11 years since her son was stabbed to death.
Mum of rapper murdered in 2013
Mum and anti-knife crime campaigner Alison Cope
It's been 11 years since Joshua Ribera was stabbed through the heart in a Birmingham nightclub. Back then in 2013, knife crime was still a huge shock, insists mum and vocal anti-knife crime campaigner Alison Cope.
"Now it's not a case of if, but when are you going to run the next headline? That's where we've come to. Now it's just part of the news."
Speaking from her Moseley home, she reflects on the relentless violence; another week, another stabbing outside a college, another son bleeding out alone on the pavement.
Sadly, it’s fear that's driving more and more youngsters to carry weapons, Alison suggests.
"They think: 'There's all these scary people wearing ballies, acting bad, I've seen a headline 'someone got stabbed on a bus', I'm just going to put a knife in my sock and pull it out if anyone tries to hurt me,” explains Alison.
"And then you end up with a situation that's so horrendous." For Alison, her son - a rapper widely known as Depzman - kissed her on the cheek and told her 'I love you'.
The next time she saw him he was dead - and she was identifying his body. Since then, Alison has dedicated her life’s work to telling Joshua’s heartbreaking story in schools across the UK to steer kids away from crime.
"What's shifted in the last six years or so is the social media element," she insists.
"You go to a school then, you'd explain it all and you'd be left with one or two kids who really needed to hear that message, now, 90 per cent do. It's really shifted now.
"The more they're exposed to, the harder it is to get the message across. My session has really stepped up and it's really to the point, really extreme.
"When I talk about losing Josh, I say even if there's a 1 per cent chance that what you put on your phone ultimately does make someone who does carry a knife want to come for you after school, come for you when they see you in the park, are you going to be ready for the consequence of lying on the floor bleeding out, thinking of your mum or dad's face as you pass away, are you really ready for that?
"Social media has got a huge role in all this,” she went on. “The problem with phones is that if you're not aware then the level of sexual violence, stabbings without editing, totally inappropriate things, has a big impact on the mindset of young people; they become totally desensitised.
"Every school you go to, it's getting harder and harder to get people to see this isn't acceptable.” Violence on social media, in films and in games are all worsening the problem, slowly desensitising children to the violence we now see play out on the streets, she adds.
Our stats show in 2023/24 alone, hospitals dealt with 410 admissions for stabbing victims. Though the figure is down compared to 2018/19, when there were 475 hospitalisations, it’s still up significantly from a decade ago, where there were 295.
Our figures also go as far to show the worst postcodes for stabbings, according to ambulance call-out data. B11, the area covering Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Tyseley and Greet suffered most, with 28 call outs across the year. This area has the sixth highest child poverty rate across Birmingham wards.
Last year, West Midlands Ambulance Service was called to treat a child of less than four-years-old after a stabbing. Sadly, paramedics dealt with hundreds more child stab victims across the Midlands.
The victims by age in 2024:
18 victims aged 10-14
112 aged 15-19
137 aged 20-24
917 victims were either 25+
See below to see how badly-impacted your postcode is:
Even if such violence doesn’t kill, the trauma, both mental and physical, is enough to ruin lives, particularly that of a child victim.
We kept in touch with one teenage victim who was just 17 when he was brutally attacked in Birmingham city centre - an area dubbed one of the worst for weapon possession.
Bullring stab victim whose attackers avoided jail
Teenage stabbing victim
Set upon in a brutal 15-on-one ambush in front of horrified onlookers outside Birmingham’s Bullring, one teenage victim spoke out on the crippling impact after he was stabbed.
Aged just 17, Adam* not his real name, was punched, kicked and knifed, the blade narrowly missing his spine.
Yet three of the thugs involved, and convicted of crimes as serious as GBH and possessing weapons, are 'free to roam' the streets after avoiding jail.
Though 'lucky to survive' the attack, his dreams for the future have been shattered. "I can't even walk, I walk for five minutes and my back's in pain, I can't sit, I can't stand, I can't do nothing," said Adam, now aged 21.
"I wanted to be a boxer, it ruined my whole career. It was my dream and it turned me different whereas before I was so good, I never used to get angry, I used to go to college and mind my own business.
"I tried to go back to boxing and the coach hit me once on my back as a tap, and I just dropped to the floor, he said: 'I'm sorry son you can't do it no more, your body can't take it.
"As soon as I get touched, get touched anywhere near my stab wound, I just go mad because I get a lot of pain. Every time someone touches it, it's like someone's stabbing me again."
We found youth hubs, after-school clubs and charities - alongside children’s services - are vital in turning around the lives of children heading down the wrong path.
We heard from teenagers who completely transformed their lives after finding ‘family’ in clubs and becoming youth workers themselves. Others were building lasting friendships at new hubs that now no longer exist after funding was pulled.
Sadly it’s a sight youths have seen all too often here in Birmingham. Since the pandemic, we found council spending on these crucial young people’s services has been slashed by 57 per cent. That’s £3.2 million in 2024/25, compared with £7.5 million in real terms since 2019/2020.
And here, despite more than four out of ten kids living in relative poverty, the council also spend far less on each child - just £11 per head compared to the average of £34 across England. Council-funded youth centres, although protected in the last round of cuts by the bankrupt council, have dropped from 59 to 16 since 2011.
We visited youth clubs both in and out of Birmingham - and the difference was palpable. Whereas non-profit charity Midland Langar Seva Society’s (MLSS) club in Walsall was kitted out with boxing rings, a well-equipped music studio and more, a new hub only seven miles down the M5 in Handsworth is now in desperate need of funding to continue.
Though both funded by the Violence Reduction Partnership - through the Home Office - Walsall’s MLSS club also had the benefit of funding from its council. Meanwhile, the Birmingham Says No youth hub is now fundraising to reopen after its £10,000 funding ran dry, meaning dozens of kids that were off the streets will have nowhere to turn.
Below, we look at why youth clubs are important, speaking to workers in both Walsall and Handsworth.
Speaking openly as we visit the MLSS youth club in Walsall, CEO and founder of MLSS, Randhir Singh, explains the stark reality for kids loitering on the streets. Here, 202 members are encouraged to engage in music, boxing and gym sessions.
Dedicated youth workers and even the CEO himself, are out in the town centre every day in a desperate bid to turn these youths’ lives around.
"When we speak to them, nine out of ten will say they haven't eaten anything since the morning - and it's 5pm. They would have had their cereal and that's it. We offer to buy them a Greggs pasty and they open up to us.
"Most of the kids here were involved in gangs or in the wrong company, balaclava'ed up, vaping, smoking drugs, hanging around town.
“It's about giving hope and direction. Three young people who have managed to get off the streets and are now qualified youth workers”.
One such reformed gang member is Kyle* - a teenager who found himself in the depths of serious gang violence, culminating in him armed with a gun at the age of 14. He was surrounded by shootings, stabbings, robberies and drug dealing.
As with most teens involved in gangs, he was lured into the lifestyle by the so-called 'badman' culture that's now prevalent.
Reformed gang member
Kyle talking to reporter Stephanie Balloo
"They just want to be a gangster, they want to be a badman.
"They want that reputation for themselves where they can walk around and say 'I'm a badman' or they want everyone to be scared of them.
"But they're not realising that's their own downfall if they keep following that route." He continued: "It's gang wars really, I'll be honest it just roots from gangs and online.
"Everything's online now really so everything that's going on online just comes into real life. It's crazy what happens. It's mainly rooted from gang related stuff.”
But despite Kyle’s criminal past, he managed to turn his life around and is now at the beginning of a promising music career.
Thanks to Walsall youth programme Midland Langar Seva Society, Kyle is now a youth worker himself - and works to reach young people like himself before it’s too late.
"My life before obviously I was involved in a lot of stuff I regret being part of now." Instead, he’s found a ‘family’ and career options at MLSS
"It's a homely atmosphere here. When I started coming here, it felt like a family. It's changed my life in many ways. It's helped me find what I wanted to do, they're helping me out with my music journey."
At the club, we speak to another youth worker called Jaydon. He too has come through the MLSS programme and is now an amateur boxer.
From his experience working with young people, the 20-year-old says youths are influenced by peers into the "trend" of carrying knives.
Walsall youth worker
Jaydon who was never in a gang but sees the destruction they cause in his experience as a youth worker
"My message to the youths is to get away from crime and to do something positive with your life. Fulfil your dreams.
"They should open more places like ourselves. Somewhere for young kids to go instead of hanging around. They need opportunities and the right direction."
Seven miles down the road from Walsall in the depths of a violence hotspot, we found a lifeline for kids with ‘nowhere else to go’, nothing to do and, in some cases, nothing to eat for the evening.
At the Handsworth youth hub, hungry kids excitedly chose their meal and queued up for a full plate of food, while others swirled around in hula-hoops, building lasting friendships.
Across the lush green cricket ground, otherwise only used for matches, children would punch the air enthusiastically as they engaged in self-defence classes led by six-time world kickboxing champion, Waine Turner.
What the Wednesday club offered for free:
Sport
Art
Food
Games
Self-defence classes
Access to mentors and in-school counsellors
New friendships
But as of this month, that funding has now run out. Dozens of kids who were off the streets and safe, will now have nowhere to turn yet again.
The club was a pilot scheme supported by a £10,000 grant from the Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) here in the West Midlands.
That's why, as part of our asks, we're now backing continued funding for the youth club in one of Birmingham's most affected areas - you can donate here.
This Handsworth after-school club, from 4pm-7pm, was run by anti-knife crime charity Birmingham Says No, headed up by Rachel Warren, whose son was held at knife-point in a robbery and former Benefits Street star, Dee Kelly.
Dee Kelly and Rachel Warren at the new Handsworth youth hub
"There is technically nothing for young people to do in Handsworth at all at the moment, and that is partly, in my eyes because of the youth cuts," explained Dee.
"I think what we have to do is we have to invest in safe spaces like this, where you know it's monitored, you know children can come here.
"Look at them, look at the friendship groups being made, the barriers being broken, the nationalities already that are here, the age groups.
"This is what is needed here; if you're keeping a child safe for three hours a week, at least that's better than none.
"We've got the summer holidays coming up, what on earth are all these children going to do when schools close for six weeks?
“Who is going to be keeping an eye on them and looking out for them then? That's the worry."
As the summer holidays edge closer, we need action now.
With every day that passes, there's an opportunity to steer a child in the right direction - to intervene before it's too late.
Children are constantly exposed to unfiltered violence on social media, games and films.
Deadly weapons are sold for as little as £1.90 online or a fiver in shops.
These knife-wielding kids are handed a slap on the wrist at court, only to be out carrying a weapon the next day.
Many of these children are not just living in poverty, but have been stripped of their youth services over the years. With nothing to eat and nowhere to go, they turn to the streets.
On top of that, they’ve been bred to hate, disrespect and mistrust the police.
These issues are deeply embedded in society; they’ve become part of modern-day culture here in 2025. But knife crime isn’t just a job for the police, it’s much bigger than that.
It’s for all of society, from parents and schools to youth workers and the Government, to work together for the sake of future generations.
Kids desperately need opportunities and safe spaces to be - particularly in the two hours after school.
Parents need to open up conversations with their children, understanding the challenges and dangers. They need to be implementing parental controls so they can filter out the violence and protect against online grooming.
We need tougher, and more consistent sentences that really deter young people from even picking up the knife in the first place. And sellers, whether online, or in shops, need to be punished for selling knives to kids.
1. Free after-school clubs When school ends at 3pm, kids are vulnerable to the streets
2. More talk Would you know if your child was being exploited by a gang?
3. Social media controls Violence. Gangs. Bullying. Kids need protecting from the online world
4. Tougher sentences for knife possession There has to be a deterrent for young people
5. Real punishment for weapon sellers Unlimited fines for those selling knives to underage kids
Thank you for taking the time to read through our investigation - and a huge thank you to those who took part.
We’re just one outlet trying to make noise about a problem we see and hear of every day. But we hope if everyone can join together as a society to do their bit, we can make a difference.