Knife Angel's sobering message - and why it matters

Towering eight metres high, it was created by sculptor Alfie Bradley at the British Ironworks Centre as a symbol of the nation’s outrage at knife-crime, which continues to destroy lives in Cumbria and beyond.

The statue contains an estimated 100,000 knives, each handed in during police knife-amnesties.

Anybody tempted to think knife-crime is an issue for only our biggest cities was proved wrong when a Carlisle Crown Court judge commented on the statue as he passed sentence on a Carlisle teenager responsible for a terrifying knife-point robbery. The youth prodded his victim in the face with a knife before forcing him to hand over his bank card.

Recorder Peter Atherton saw the statue during his lunch -break from the city's crown court last month.

Responding to it, he said: "The public have had enough of knives and knife-crime and understandably because of the misery and fear that it causes. They expect the courts to sentence heavily; to impose deterrent sentences."

Carlisle city councillor Elizabeth Mallinson described the statue as “stunning" and "thought-provoking.” Judges and magistrates in Cumbria deal with knife-related offending on an almost daily basis.

As the statue was moved on to Barrow in south Cumbria as part of its national tour, we look at some of the more disturbing recent knife crime cases which have come through our courts.

February: A knife-wielding thug led a drink-fuelled 'revenge attack' in Carlisle which almost killed a man. A judge jailed 24-year-old Viorel Pricope for ten and a half years, commenting that his violence on February 6 - supported initially by his two friends – was “as near to fatal as one could imagine.” Pricope admitted intentionally causing grievous bodily harm.

February: A Whitehaven man, previously jailed for brandishing a knife at guesthouse owner, returned to the same property after his release - again armed with a blade. Ryan Bennett, 35, told police in 2018 he wanted to attack the man by either “kneecapping” him or “putting the knife through his neck.” The attacker, without justification, believed his intended victim had committed offences. The defendant, of Brakeside Gardens, Whitehaven, admitted possessing a knife without lawful authority. He was jailed for 30 months.

April: Residents in Newtown Road, Carlisle, saw a man attacked as he lay on the ground. The assailant held a knife to the man's neck. The confrontation ended as police arrived. At Carlisle Crown Court, 33-year-old Darius Karlonas was given a suspended jail sentence.

April: A Carlisle man stabbed a stranger on a city street for no reason. Llewellyn Newth, 44, admitted intentionally wounding the man in October last year; possessing a bladed article in a public place without good reason; and an assault causing actual bodily harm. Newth, of Esther Street, Currock, Carlisle, was jailed for five years.

May: A west Cumbrian man was caught illegally carrying weapons on a Barrow street. Rhys Mason, 30, appearing at Carlisle Crown Court, admitted carrying articles with a blade or point in public without lawful authority. It happened in Michaelson Street, Barrow, on May 2. The defendant will be sentenced in February.

July: A masked robber brandished a Stanley knife at two terrified shop assistants in a Carlisle Bargain Booze store on April 6. Jack Connor Little, 28, who escaped with £100 from the store in Raffles Parade, off Wigton Road, Carlisle, left his victims traumatised. They were "in no doubt" Little was prepared to use the knife, the court heard. He was jailed for four years.

August: A homeless man caught with a knife in Workington told police: “I was going to rob a shop or stab somebody in the throat.” Prolific offender Carl Frank Weston, 37, yearned to go to jail and that lay behind his crime, Carlisle Crown Court heard. Asked if he considered himself dangerous, Weston replied: “At this moment in time I think I am a very, very dangerous person.”

October: A bungling criminal who suddenly realised he knew his victim during a knife-point robbery at a Carlisle store pulled down his face-mask to say hello – before threatening to kill the woman. Jamie Wade, 24, and his accomplice Andrew Morris, 36, admitted robbery.The pair struck at the Foreways convenience store in Blackwell Road, Carlisle, on October 4. Judge Nicholas Barker said: “It was clearly a terrifying experience and ordeal for [the shop assistant].” A judge jailed Wade for five years and Morris for three years and four months.

October: A west Cumbrian man twice caught carrying knives – first in Whitehaven and then in Carlisle – was spared jail after a judge heard he had experienced “traumatic events”. Jason Wright, 41, from Mirehouse, Whitehaven, admitted four counts of possessing bladed articles.

December: A Wigton man - assaulted during a night out - returned to the pub where it happened armed with a knife. Kieran Routledge, 28, was disarmed by a woman and shepherded away concerned onlookers. The defendant admitted possessing a bladed article in a public place. “He was clearly intent on revenge,” a prosecutor told the court. He will be sentenced later this month.

December: A forty-one-year-old man chased along a Carlisle street by a man wielding an iron bar later returned to confront him, armed himself with a knife. It happened on November 8 last year. Nicholas Graham confronted the other man with a “large carving knife”. The defendant, of Sewell Road, Carlisle, admitted affray and possessing a bladed article.  He was given an eight-month jail term suspended for two years. “Everyone deserves a chance from time to time,” said the judge. 

December: A teenager responsible for two robberies in a few hours told one victim: “I’ll stab your girlfriend, I’ll stab your dad, I’ll stab your mother.” The 17-year-old prodded one victim - a food delivery worker - in the face with a knife. The judge imposed an 18-month rehabilitation order, with intensive supervision, rehabilitation and a three month curfew.