Council pledges £100k to youth services after girl's death in suspected hit-and-run

Councillors have given £100,000 to fund youth services after Katniss Seleznev, who was seven, died after being hit by a motorbike on Turnstone Road, Harden, on July 27 in a suspected hit-and-run that shocked Walsall.

Walsall Council has now pledged £100,000 to the development of youth services to help "solve many of the problems" in the area.

Blakenall councillor, Peter Smith, said: "This news is positive. It will not solve the present problems overnight. The police have total operational control over what they do regarding crimes committed, given the limited resources they have and the laws as they stand.

"However, as I have said before, the way forward is a partnership of police, the council, WHG and above all the local community, who together can tackle and hopefully minimise if not solve many of the problems we face in our community."

Plans for the funds include the reintroduction of a youth team into the Blakenall community by employing three full-time qualified youth workers, and increasing "outreach capacity" with the community.

Councillor Garry Perry said: "We are very serious about this. This is something that we will be doing in consultation with our partners in the area like the WHG, Bloxwich Community Partnership, New Deal Horizons and the police.

"We do recognise that there are different challenges that also face the youth in the area, but we will also come to these in different conversations."

The councillor went on to say that tackling youth crime and violent crime is close to his heart, promising more to be done in the future to offer more services to keep children from turning to crime.

He said: "I haven't tried to hide the fact that I have been passionate in my approach to knife crime, actively working with the Brindley Foundation in my constituency.

"I want our communities to know that we are serious about this, we have listened to you and we have heard you."