Dudley's first knife surrender bin unveiled after string of stabbings
More dangerous blades could soon be taken off the streets after Dudley’s first knife bin was unveiled.
The weapons surrender container has been introduced in an attempt to curb a rise in knife crime sweeping across the region.
It is the latest to be installed in the West Midlands, with a total of 14 now in the area.
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Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner Ashley Bertie, who officially opened the new knife bin, said: “Only last week we opened a new weapon surrender bin in Wolverhampton.
“I’m delighted that nine days later we’re able to fit a new one in Dudley too.
“The bins are providing people with a safe way to dispose of knives, which they shouldn’t be carrying. Every knife posted into a surrender bin is potentially a life saved.
"These bins work best when the community wants them and in Dudley that’s the message we have received loud and clear."
The new safe and secure metal container has been unveiled at Tesco Extra at the Birmingham Road retail park.
Other bins are in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and West Bromwich, with more expected to be installed in the coming months across the West Midlands Police force area.
Peter Marsh, of the Dudley Rotary Club, helped organise the installation of the new knife bin.
He said: "We all know there is a problem across the country with knife crime and these bins are a very useful tool to help tackle it.
"If anyone in Dudley has a knife which they shouldn’t, then I’d urge them to use the bin.”
The knife surrender bins were introduced four years ago by the Mr Jamieson, who is now calling on anyone who would like to see a knife bin in their area to get in touch with his office.
Councillor Ken Finch, who represents the Castle and Priory ward, said he welcomed the new amnesty bin and hoped it would help save lives.
He added: “I should imagine residents will welcome it if it’s going to prevent just one stabbing and the agony of a family having to mourn the innocent person that gets stabbed.”
The fourth weapons surrender bin in Wolverhampton was unveiled near St Chad and St Mark’s Church, in Lime Street, last month.
The city's other bins are also located at Bilston's Morrisons, Tabernacle Baptist Church in Whitmore Reans and Wednesfield Road's New Testament Church of God.
Blades can also be surrendered at a bin within West Bromwich Town Centre, on the corner of High Street and New Street.
At the opening of Wolverhampton’s latest bin, council leader Councillor Roger Lawrence said: “Very simply, if knives are taken off the streets then they cannot be used to commit a crime or cause injury. Sadly, knives are very easy to obtain.”
The Express and Star is running a campaign calling for tougher sentences for people carrying a weapon. To back the campaign, see change.org/p/theresa-may-mp-knife-possession-should-have-stiffer-sentences
Action follows string of stabbings
Dudley’s first weapons surrender bin comes after a string of stabbings across the Black Country.
Since the start of the year, there have been more than 20 incidents of knife crime in the West Midlands, including a number of fatal stabbings.
Jaskaran Kang, aged 24, was stabbed to death above a shop in Stourbridge Road, Brierley Hill, on January 6.
Police said a hooded attacker stabbed a man in the arm with a large axe or knife outside the Chiquito restaurant at Dudley’s Castle Gate retail park in February.
In March, a 24-year-old man was rushed to hospital after being attacked outside Dudley’s Village Hotel.
There have also been a number of deaths in other areas across the Black Country since the start of the year.
Youngsters Mylee Billingham and Jasmine Forrester died after being stabbed in houses.
Great-grandmother Anne James, who died from multiple stab injuries, was found at her home in Doveridge Place, Highgate, Walsall, on February 28.
Men from the victims’ families are facing murder charges in all three of those cases.
Figures released earlier this year revealed more than 1,600 people were cautioned or sentenced for carrying knives and offensive weapons in the West Midlands and Staffordshire last year.
Police said most of the people caught were young men aged 15 to 19 who claimed they were carrying the weapons for theirprotection.
