The heart-breaking impact of knife crime on Sheffield families laid bare as police begin week of action

But the devastating impact on Sheffield families extends far beyond statistics.

A week of ‘intensive action’ from South Yorkshire Police to tackle knife crime, as part of a national policing initiative entitled Operation Sceptre, is currently underway and will see the force carry out range of activities including ‘targeted operations, engagement and education to reassure young people they are safer not carrying knives, and to walk away from harm’.

The Operation Sceptre campaign, which takes place twice a year, comes as figures from the Office for National Statistics released this month (May 2023) show there was an eight per cent increase in ‘knife and sharp instrument offences’ in South Yorkshire in the 12 months from January to December 2022.

While it is understandable that statistics are used to indicate patterns and increases in violent offences – such as those involving the use of a blade – behind every incident used to form those statistics is a person who has been injured. Families of both victims and perpetrators are often left devastated by the impact of knife crime, which can destroy, forever change, and in some cases end, lives in an instant.

In the last two months alone, five people – including two teenage boys – have been sentenced for fatal stabbings carried out in Sheffield.

On May 4, 2023, Dereck Owusu, aged 40, and Louis James, aged 47, were sentenced to life imprisonment, with minimum terms of 15 years and 25 years, respectively, for the murder of Reece Radford, who was fatally stabbed during an incident on Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre on September 29, 2022.

During the sentencing hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, a moving statement from Mr Radford’s mother, Laura Radford, which was read to the court by her partner, Mick Houghton, detailed the life-changing and ongoing consequences of the fatal violence inflicted upon 26-year-old Mr Radford by Owusu, of Manor Lane, Park Hill, and James, of Strathmore Grove, Wath-upon-Dearne.

She said: “My heart is broken. Reece was the life and soul of his family…he would light up a room as soon as he came in.”

“His little girl was only seven-months-old when this happened, she will never know him, she will never know what kind of dad he was, and he would have been the best dad.”

Anthony Sumner, a ‘loved’ son, brother, dad, grandad and grandson, suffered fatal injuries after being stabbed and attacked with a machete during a violent assault carried out on Windy Lane in the Manor area of Sheffield on July 29, 2021.

Mr Sumner’s family waited 20 long months for his killers to be brought to justice, and they were present in court on Friday, March 31, 2023, when Richard Sampson, aged 50, of Prince of Wales Road, near Woodthorpe, Sheffield and 17-year-old Boe Barton, of South East Sheffield, were sentenced over the fatal knife attack.

Through a gut-wrenching statement read to the court, Mr Sumner’s mother said: “This was heartbreaking, my children should be the ones burying me, not me burying my son.”

She continued: “I can’t believe my son’s life was taken in this brutal way…my Anthony was no angel, but he had a heart of gold, and would not hurt anyone.”

Sheffield Crown Court was told how the attack on Mr Sumner was carried out by the boy and Sampson, with Sampson armed with a machete, while the boy wielded a knife. The pair cornered a defenceless Mr Sumner in a garden, and set about inflicting the knife wounds that ultimately cost him his life.

Both Sampson and Barton were convicted of murder following trials at Sheffield Crown Court.

Richard Dentith was found unconscious on Grimesthorpe Road, Burngreave, at around 2.50am on Thursday, April 7, 2022 and pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination subsequently concluded Richard, fondly known as ‘Ricky,’ had died of a single stab wound.

Yaqeen Arshad, aged 17, of De La Salle Drive, Pitsmoor, Sheffield went on trial at Sheffield Crown Court accused of Ricky’s murder in February 2023, and a jury found him guilty of the shocking crime on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

During a March 20, 2023 sentencing hearing Judge Sarah Wright told Arshad he must serve a minimum of 14 years at His Majesty’s Pleasure for Mr Dentith’s murder.

Paying tribute to his son, Alan Dentith said he takes ‘no comfort’ in Arshad being at court to answer for his son’s death, because it means another man’s life has been lost and his family have been left in ‘turmoil’ too.

Both Arshad and Barton had reporting restrictions protecting their identity lifted after Star court reporter, Jon Cooper, applied for them to be removed on the grounds that the publication of the names of juveniles convicted of fatal stabbings may act as a deterrent in future.

Since April 2022, The Star has reported on 18 stabbings, five of which were fatal. The most recent such incident took place just over a week ago on Monday, May 8, when 19-year-old Adam Abdul-Basit was stabbed to death in an incident on Smelter Wood Drive, Stradbroke. Two 17-year-old boys, neither of whom can be named due to their age, have been charged with Mr Abdul-Basit’s murder.

Operation Sceptre is supported by South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings. He said: “Knife crime has a devastating impact not only on the immediate victims and their families but also on our communities more broadly. It causes people to feel less safe. This is why tackling it is a key part of my ambition.”

There are knife amnesty bins in the following Sheffield locations where you can dispose of any knives anonymously: Wolseley Road, Sharrow; Birley Moor Road, Frecheville and Devonshire Green (off Fitzwilliam Street), Sheffield city centre.