Major knife crime plan unveiled as grieving mum hails lifesaving measures

Major knife crime plan unveiled as grieving mum hails lifesaving measuresThe Home Office has unveiled its long-awaited knife crime strategy with measures to ramp up support for young people and new technology to help police pinpoint places and times to patrolCommentsNewsDave Burke Political Correspondent 18:00, 07 Apr 2026Updated 18:06, 07 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesPastor Lorraine Jones Burrell has welcomed the Government's focus on intervention(Image: David Dyson)A grieving mum whose son was stabbed to death while trying to save a friend has welcomed new plans to tackle Britain's knife crime epidemic.‌Pastor Lorraine Jones Burrell told The Mirror that lives will be saved thanks to Labour's commitment to build and equip hundreds of youth facilities across England. On Tuesday the Home Office unveiled its long-awaited strategy to halve knife crime within a decade.‌New measures include ramping up the use of state-of-the-art mapping technology to identify hotspots, and scaling up the use of live facial recognition, knife arches and neighbourhood patrols.‌Meanwhile figures released on Tuesday show more than 3,000 additional police officers and Police Community Support Officers have been put into neighbourhood roles in less than a year.READ MORE: Kanye West is BLOCKED from entering UK with Wireless Festival now cancelledREAD MORE: Nigel Farage accused of 'desperate gimmick' with bid to punish 19 countriesView 3 ImagesPastor Lorraine with Idris Elba and Keir Starmer in 2024(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)Pastor Lorraine's 20-year-old son Dwayne Simpson was killed in 2014, when he stepped in after seeing a friend being chased by a man with a knife. The church minister said: "My heart was shattered the day my son Dwayne was taken from me through knife crime. That pain never leaves you but I made a decision to turn that pain into power."‌Since the general election in 2024, knife crime has dropped by 8% and over 63,000 blades have been remo...