VIDEO: Dad of murdered Northampton schoolboy Fred Shand features in 'Real Life Adolescence' documentary airing tonight on Channel 5

‘The Real Adolescence: Our Killer Kids’, a 90-minute special airing at 10pm, examines the growing number of murder convictions among children aged 12 to 17 in the UK. Among those sharing their stories is Rohan Shand Sr., whose 16-year-old son Fred was killed in a daylight attack last year.

Fred Shand, a pupil at Kingsthorpe College, was fatally stabbed in March 2023 as he walked home along Harborough Road near the Cock Hotel junction.

The 15-year-old found guilty of Fred’s murder was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 13 years. The Honourable Mr Justice Morris described it as a “horrendous attack in broad daylight on the streets of Northampton” that had “shocked the wider community”.

His father, Rohan Shand Sr, appears in the documentary. Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo, he said: “This documentary is to keep my son’s memory going and to show kids the impact it’s had on us as parents. It’s really and truly killed us. I feel this is a life imprisonment for me, it’s never going to go away. Losing my son, my world’s crumbled. When parents lose a child, we don’t live any life. The future’s been taken away. I want to save other children out there, they need to be saved.

“Watching the documentary tonight, I still have a lot of trauma but I still have to keep my faith and try to be strong to watch. This strength is coming from somewhere. God’s carrying me through. I’m going through a very, very tough time.

Asked why young people are carrying knives, Rohan said: “I think it’s out of fear. It doesn’t make it right. We want to find a way to help these kids to make them understand carrying a knife is not good.

“Social media had a lot to do with it [Fred’s murder]. I know it has a big impact on youths. It was like pouring petrol on to a fire.”

On more stabbings happening since Fred’s death, both locally and nationally, he said: “It grieves me. These youths need something to focus on. Just leave a knife alone. If you have a dispute there are other ways of solving a dispute. Taking someone’s life, in the end you’ll say you regret it but it’s too late then – the damage is already done. These situations where people have beef can be talked over.”

While not featured in the documentary, another Northampton parent, Cherri Curran, also spoke to the Chronicle & Echo to support Rohan’s message and call for urgent reform. Her son, Louis-Ryan Menezes, was stabbed to death in 2018.

Amari Smith, from Penfold Close, killed 17-year-old Louis in a sudden confrontation in Drayton Walk, Kingsthorpe. The boys had argued over “comments made on social media” before Smith pulled out a hidden kitchen knife and stabbed Louis in the heart.

Cherri said: “The documentary highlights the horrific things that are going on on the streets with our young people. It highlights what the family has been through losing Fred, who was on his way home from school when he was killed.

“The ages of children killing children are getting younger. They seem to think it’s the only way to deal with a conflict nowadays. There doesn’t seem to be enough power coming down on these kids. The sentences, what are they? My son’s killer received four years. My little Louis’ life is worth four years? While he has his whole life ahead of him? It absolutely boils my blood. It’s so very hard to accept.”

Asked why kids are carrying knives, Cherri said: “Young people are seeing their friends murdered in the street by their peers, they’re now grabbing knives. The problem multiplies. It’s fear. So now we’ve got this tumultuous time where young people think the only way they can defend themselves is picking up a knife. We as a society need to keep making bigger steps to stop this.

“I feel the youth services in the last two decades have disappeared. Now look at us two decades on. If this is the aftermath of those services disappearing, where are we going to be in another decade or two?

“We need more things in place to stop these children from turning into perpetrators and victims of knife crime.

“The government really need to do more. We need more police on the streets, talking to primary school children, stronger sentences. There needs to be a whole lot more.”

Cherri ended, saying: “We’ll keep on while we’ve got breath in our bodies. We’ll be shouting our son’s names. It gives us purpose because we don’t want anyone else to lose what we’ve lost. We can’t breathe. Our hearts don’t beat the same.”

The documentary also features contributions from anti-violence campaigner Alison Cope, forensic psychiatrist Dr Sohom Das, forensic psychologist Kerry Danes, and Patrick Green, CEO of The Ben Kinsella Trust.

Executive producer Daniel Smith said: “We want to thank all the contributors for sharing their personal stories and hope that by bringing them together, we’ve focused on the shattering impact of these crimes and included experts to suggest how they might be prevented.”

Channel 5 commissioning editor Dan Louw added: “This is a shocking and sobering film about a national emergency, and I challenge every parent to watch it.”

Click here to watch the trailer.