A COMMUNITY knife sweep saw a samurai sword seized just meters away from two primary schools

Residents discovered the deadly weapon in the Murdishaw area of Runcorn, within meters of a community centre that is just a few minutes walk away from  two local schools.

The sweep was carried out by members of the Live your Life – Drop The Knife organisation, which was established following the tragic death of Runcorn teenager Eddie O’Rourke.

Eighteen-year-old Eddie was fatally stabbed  at a party in Halton Village, Runcorn, on September 7 2018, which caused wide-spread shock across the town.

Drop the Knife Campaigners, in partnership with Cheshire Police,  have carried out a number of knife sweeps in response to Eddie’s death, which have resulted in over 30 dangerous items being taken off the streets.

Those include bolt cutters, hammers, a mallet and a meat fork as well as sharp knives.

At a meeting about knife crime  in Runcorn’s Town Hall last night,  Louis Bamber, a founding member of the group, said that even a sword had been discovered in their latest sweep two weeks ago.

As well as the sword, images shared on the group’s social media page show a baseball bat and what appears to be a toy gel blaster gun were also  discovered by volunteers who were out assisting the group.

Speaking after Tuesday night’s meeting, Louis said: “What we are doing is sending a clear message that we will not tolerate the behaviour of fighting with knives or other weapons, if you are hiding them we will find them and they will be destroyed.

“But we also want to educate those between the ages of 5 and 25 the consequences of knife crime and the impacts it can have on the rest of your life and the rest of your families lives, we acknowledge the fact that kids have nothing to do today but we can do anything about it without them so that’s why we need everyone to come together to Beat Knife Crime.”

As well as knife sweeps, 22-year-old Louis said the organisation  will be working with local schools, colleges, businesses and sports clubs to provide education services to the local area.

He said the group was currently working on putting together education material they could give to schools to be featured as part of their curriculum.