‘It’s Hard To Forget When Something Like That Happens’

Sabrina Ruffles listens to the wise words of a teenager who grew up in the shadow of his cousin’s killing.

The day his cousin was stabbed and killed remains etched in the memory of Newham teenager Joshua Carter.

‘It’s hard to forget when something like that happens. I was only young but I remember everything about it.’

‘I was just home from school, my Aunty and Mum where sitting in the living room crying and then they told me.’

Apart from his family’s loss, the killing left a legacy for Joshua: ‘For years I was scared that the same would happen to me. Mum wouldn’t let me out with my friends for ages.’

Now aged 18, Joshua says that more should be done with boys of 10 and 11 to persuade them not to look up to the men in their community who seem powerful because they are violent.

He believes that education at this lower level is crucial in convincing tomorrow’s teenagers it’s not cool to carry a knife.

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