Seized blades from police amnesty to be turned into statue in Northampton

Oasis House of Ash Street approached Northamptonshire Police after an anonymous knife amnesty in a bid to turn the blades into a statue.

Northamptonshire Police hosted the event at a mobile police station between 1pm and 4pm in Semilong and said they had a 'huge amount of knives handed in' as a result of a previous Chronicle & Echo story, which highlighted the three-day amnesty event.

A spokesperson for the Northampton Central policing team said: 'We have thought of a means of turning the knives surrendered into a positive thing and Oasis House have approached us and want to turn the knives into some sort of statue or art piece'.

Superintendent Chris Hillery, Head of Local Policing, said: “We have been holding a number of knife amnesties in Northampton throughout the past week using the mobile police station and I would encourage people to surrender their weapons during these events.

“Our message is clear, do not carry knives. Not only is it illegal to carry a knife in public, there is a real risk it will be used, either by you or against you, which could have very serious consequences.

“We are committed to tackling knife crime and the amnesties are just one of the things we are doing to drive down the number of people who feel the need to carry a weapon with them while out and about.

“Last year we took part in the national knife awareness operation, delivering educational messages to young people, using knife arches in town centres and proactive patrols across the county, and will be repeating that operation this year.

“We’re working closely with schools and other organisations to help educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives and encourage parents to talk to their children about the issue.

“Through Operation Worcester we have also been working to disrupt criminal gangs operating in the county and, in part, that work involves taking weapons, including knives, off our streets."

Anyone concerned about knife crime, or has information about a crime, can contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 111 555.