Video: Notts TV’s Sharon Walia met three bereaved parents who lost children to knife crime
Three Nottinghamshire victims of knife crime have been commemorated in an eight metre-high sculpture made of 100,000 blades.
The figure, called the ‘Knife Angel’, is made of weapons either confiscated or surrendered to police forces around the country.
A ceremony was held today in Clifton, where three blades – obtained by Notts Police as part of a blade amnesty called ‘Save A Life Surrender Your Knife’ – were handed by parents of the victims to be added to the 26-foot sculpture.
The weapons will commemorate the lives of Eugene Bergan who died in 2002 aged 27, Jason Spencer, who died in 2007 aged 17, and Luke Moran, 25, who was stabbed to death at a house party in 2011.
Trisha Bergan tragically lost her son, Eugene, after he was stabbed in the neck with a nine-inch blade near his home in Strelley.
Mrs Bergan, now a campaigner against knife crime, said not a day goes by when she does not cry about the loss of her son, and that she often looks through the window and wonders if Eugene will come home.
She said: “[But] he’s never coming home. No matter how many years ago since it happened, I am still grieving and it remains so hurtful – my life has changed completely.
“In myself, my health is deteriorating. My life will never, ever be the same.”
Mrs Bergan also said she was “happy” that the sculpture will commemorate her son.
“It’s [the Knife Angel] to make people aware of those who have lost a loved one.”
The bereaved families have also had messages engraved on the wings of the sculpture.
Chief inspector Mark Stanley said the weapons were handed over as a result of targeting people the force believe to be carrying knives in local communities.
He added: “I think it’s really important that we reiterate, to the community, that we’re not on the streets randomly searching people. We’re very much led by community intelligence.”
The Knife Angel has been made at the British Ironworks Centre, in Oswestry, Shropshire.
It will be unveiled later this year and will stand at Trafalgar Square, in London.
It was originally supposed to be moved to Trafalgar Square last December, but work was delayed.
The sculpture is the work of artist Alfie Bradley and more than 100,000 knives have been collected from 43 police forces across the country.
Figures, supplied by Notts Police, show there were 125 stabbings around the city and county last year, in which three people died.
In 2015 there were 149 stabbings, of which one was fatal, and the previous year there were 120 stabbings leading to four deaths.
