Standing against knives and guns (From Croydon Guardian)

Standing against knives and guns

9:43am Friday 15th June 2007

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When Michelle Forbes heard a gun shot outside her house in December 2003 she knew instinctively her son had just been killed.

Leon, a talented 21-year-old music producer who had just been shortlisted for the MOBO unsung awards, was gunned down while listening to CDs with a friend in the family car. In one short blast the life of a talented and ambitious, young man was taken away and his family torn apart.

Freda Hamilton's brother Derek was stabbed to death by their cousin, Chris Kiffin, in New Addington, in 2004. Kiffin stabbed Derek with a kitchen knife during a row about a court fine and was later jailed for life.

Like Michelle, Freda's life was turned upside down by a devastating act which could so easily have been avoided.

The two women are backing the campaign which was launched at the London Assembly's city hall last week. Supported by the mayor of London Ken Livingstone, the initiative aims to reduce London's spiralling gun crime by recounting the heartbreaking stories of people like Michelle and Freda.

Michelle, who moved from Clapham to Croydon after her son was killed, is still waiting for the gunman to be caught. She said: "This campaign is what all the victims of gun crime need. It keeps their faces in the newspapers and those responsible will have to look at them over and over again and remember what they did and for people like me who have not yet got justice it makes it that little bit easier."

Freda, of North Downs Road, joined the New Addington campaign group Mums Against Guns, which was launched earlier this year. The group is tackling the gang culture which is blighting Croydon by making sure their children are safe.

She says her brother's death feels "very fresh" in her mind and every time someone is killed on the streets of south London the pain returns.

"We need to get young people to adopt a different mindset," she said, "They carry these weapons because they are cowards. You don't need a knife or a gun and it is about making kids and adults understand that."

Michelle, 49, who was at the launch of the campaign with Freda last week, added: "Leon was a normal, happy and loving 21-year-old boy who was dedicated to his two children. I called him Sunshine because that's what he was. Of course he had his tantrums but he was so determined and he had a heart and he cared and I think the fact he did care signed his death warrant."

The organisers of Don't Trigger say they are offering the families and friends of victims the chance to be "part of the solution". It has compiled a CD of music to support the campaign and a film called Hip Hop Opera explores the myths which have created London's urban assassins'.

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