Gun and knife amnesty to be held in Derby

GUNS and knives can be handed in as part of a weapons amnesty in Derby proposed after a teenager was shot dead in the city.

Labour councillor Ranjit Banwait suggested the scheme following the death of 15-year-old Kadeem Blackwood in November.

Police are now calling for weapons to be handed in at police stations across the city from Monday.

Bins will be placed at stations and those handing in weapons will not be questioned.

Chief Superintendent Andy Hough, the man in charge of policing in Derby, said: "We have successfully held knife amnesties in the past and this has been extended this time to include guns as part of our overall work in the city.

"Police intelligence locally and nationally shows that the vast majority of gun-related crime involves weapons that are mainly old or even antique.

"It is therefore timely that we hold the gun amnesty to give people the chance who have guns in their homes – perhaps that they have found or inherited, to be able to hand them in."

It is the first time police have organised an amnesty in Derby for both guns and knives. A county knife amnesty in 2006 saw more than 2,400 items handed in.

And during another Derbyshire knife amnesty in November 2000, more than 260 items, including swords, bayonets and machetes, were handed over.

A firearms amnesty in 2003 saw more than 440 weapons handed in.

Mr Banwait put forward a motion to Derby City Council for an amnesty in March at a full meeting of the authority.

Kadeem died after he was shot in the chest on Caxton Street recreation ground.

Two men – Callum Campbell and Michael Hamblett-Sewell – have been charged with his murder. A third – Ashley Campbell – has been charged with assisting an offender. They will stand trial in October.

Mr Banwait said: "This is about making the streets of Derby safer as part of a wider strategy. The amnesty will help remove from homes weapons that could otherwise find their way on to the streets and into the wrong hands.

"There is also a role for community leaders working in neighbourhoods across the city to show young people that there are peaceful ways to resolve their differences."

The amnesty will begin on Monday and run until Sunday, July 15. Derby Community Safety Partnership is supporting the scheme.

The partnership co-ordinates a team which works to tackle gang-related crime and disorder by working with youngsters to divert them away from gangs and sharing information with other agencies.

Chief Inspector Sunita Gamblin, who heads the team, said: "We and our partners in the city are determined not to sit back and then react to incidents.

"We are therefore committed to working proactively with the local community and with our partners to prevent issues from escalating and the amnesty is one tactic at our disposal as part of that strategy."