Father's mission to end the blade trade

At the sharp end: Senior police seek legal definition on combat weapons as councillors plan to drive knives out of town

A North East town haunted by a classroom stabbing is attempting to restrict the local sale of combat knives, it was revealed yesterday.

Middlesbrough Borough Council said it intends to impose covenants on anyone buying or leasing its land, preventing the sale of combat knives on council-owned property.

Council chiefs are also to urge development companies and property agents in the town to join forces in a bid to enforce the ban. They also plan to contact existing knife shops in the Teeside area to persuade them to "diversify" their trade.

Within hours of the policy being announced, both Manchester and Newcastle City Councils announced that they would be "considering" the same long- term action, which, if successful, could put a virtual halt on the future emergence of shops selling combat knives.

Middlesbrough Council admitted that recent incidents involving attacks on children had played a "major" part in its decision.

The murder of 12-year-old schoolgirl, Nikki Conroy, who was stabbed 14 times by classroom intruder Stephen Wilkinson in March 1994, has been an important factor.

The policy is the brainchild of councillor, Michael J Carr, a father- of-two, who decided that action must be taken on the sale of combat knives soon after Nikki Conroy's death.

"Some time after Nikki's death, I walked into a shopping mall and saw a shop window displaying a vast array of knuckle dusters, sharp knives and long bladed machetes," he said.

"It was wholly inappropriate to have them on sale in the town at the time. The public at large needs to be protected and we feel that banning knives from shops in Middlesbrough is a positive step."

The council now wants to meet with other property agents, along with out-of-town retail development leaders to persuade them to impose the ban, in particular the agents involved in a number of new shopping developments in the Teeside area.

One Cleveland shop owner, Spencer Hornsey, who runs a chain of DIY stores throughout the North East, said that he has already observed "public opinion" on the sale of knives, pledging only to deal in mail order with well-established customers.

He said that in the past six months he has turned away up to 200 potential customers wanting to purchase knives - all kinds of knives, including survival and fishing - because they were considered unsuitable to own them.

"I am conscious of the need to be a responsible retailer because public opinion shows that people do not want these weapons getting onto the streets and into the wrong hands," he said.

"We will not sell knives to the general public any more over the counter and we have ban-ned displays from our windows.

A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: "We need the co-operation of everyone to ensure the ban is a success.

"It would stop the sale and display of knives in council and privately owned shops, but we need the consensus of all involved."

Cleveland Police has backed the council scheme, which would cover around 200 business premises owned by the authority.