Southport attack survivor unveils new knife crime campaign
The former primary school teacher Leanne Lucas was critically injured following the attack
A yoga teacher who survived the horrific Southport attack has launched a new community interest company aimed at promoting the widespread adoption of round-ended kitchen knives.
Leanne Lucas initiated her "Let's Be Blunt" campaign following the devastating incident in Merseyside in July 2024, which claimed the lives of seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, six-year-old Bebe King, and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, and left eight children and two adults injured.
Ms Lucas is urging both knife manufacturers and the public to discontinue the use of pointed-tip kitchen knives, highlighting their potential to become lethal weapons.
Her newly established Community Interest Company (CIC) is already providing vital training to adults who work with children in the public sector.
Ms Lucas is now appealing for public support and donations to expand the reach of her prevention and training programmes through the CIC.
She said: “What started as one voice speaking up is now a registered Community Interest Company working nationally to reduce knife harm through prevention-led action.
“We are already seeing real progress.
“As demand increases, so does the responsibility to deliver this work well – through training, policy engagement and practical resources.
“As a CIC, we rely on community backing to sustain and grow this work.
“If you believe harm should be prevented before it happens. If you believe adults need equipping as much as young people.
“If you believe prevention deserves investment.
“Even small contributions help us continue this work and expand it into more communities.
“Prevention rarely makes headlines. But it quietly changes futures.”
The former primary school teacher was critically injured following the attack. In an interview with the BBC’s Panorama, Ms Lucas recalled that she suffered stab wounds to her spine, head, ribs, lung and shoulder blade.
However, she was able to get herself and several children out of the room.
“I just knew that if I didn’t get out, everyone was going to die,” she said.
“He was bigger than me. And I just thought: ‘I need to get some help’. So we all run towards the door.
“We were shouting: ‘Run!’ I called 999 on the landing and I asked for the police.”
Donations and more information can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/lets-be-blunt-cic
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