Sarah Robinson's knife crime petition hits 10,000 signatures

Sarah Robinson, the mother of teenager Cameron Hamilton who was stabbed to death in Bournemouth, has set up a government petition to tighten the laws surrounding knife crime.

Sarah is lobbying the government to ban all knives, regardless of length, in public spaces, as well as increasing sentences for illegal possession of a knife to be increased.

Speaking on her campaign, Sarah said: “I want the government to deem that this is a serious issue.

“It is a disease that is spreading through the country. Knife crime is rife, and the public is fed up with hearing about people losing their lives.

"The only people who can change the laws are those who make them.”

Sarah also discussed a desire to change the guidelines around manslaughter involving a knife, saying ‘the minute a weapon is involved, that to me is not manslaughter anymore.’

She said: “If you’ve made a choice to pick up a weapon and use it, someone will be harmed or possibly lose their life.”

To prevent knife crime, Sarah wants to see stronger deterrents for people possessing a knife.

She said: “There are no deterrents for people who are already carrying knives. The person who killed Cameron had been done for possession of a knife before.

“There was obviously no real deterrent there; although he didn’t bring the knife, he knew there was one and decided to use it,” Sarah added.

The online petition reached more than 10,000 signatures before closing, meaning the issue should receive a response from the government. 

Sarah commented on the number of people who signed her petition, saying: “The petition was only going for three weeks.

“The number of people who signed it goes to show that people have had enough.

“The terrible news this weekend showed that this isn’t something that just happens to kids; this lady was the same age as me. “

Speaking on the death of Amie Gray, Sarah added: “My heart goes out to her family.

“It’s heartbreaking to know the steps they are going through.”