Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater holds roundtable meeting to discuss knife crime

The event - which took place on Thursday, November 24 - drew together agencies and organisations involved in tackling the issue of knife crime in Batley and Spen, to hear about the impact of knife crime, and to formulate a joint, multi-agency approach to reduce and prevent the threat of knife crime incidents. There was a particular focus on young people and working with schools.

The roundtable was attended by officers from West Yorkshire Police, senior Kirklees Council staff, charities, education professionals, representatives from school hubs, and relatives of victims of knife crime.

They included Elaine Wilson, from Birstall, whose husband Robert was stabbed to death in 2020 after being set upon by two teenagers outside the pharmaceutical plant where he worked, and Kelly Hubbard and Bryony Gledhill, the mother and sister of 20 year old Bradley Gledhill, who was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in 2020.

All three provided powerful and emotional testimonies that underlined the need to engage with young people from an early age to counteract the normalisation of carrying a knife, peer-on-peer violence, gang culture, the use of drugs and alcohol and the impact of social media.

Since her husband’s murder Mrs Wilson has worked with the P.E.A.K. project – Positive Engagement Against Knives – a partnership between West Yorkshire Police and the Huddersfield Town Foundation, speaking in schools about the subject.

Ms Hubbard and Ms Gledhill, who set up a local football team, ‘Bradley’s Army’, in his name, are now looking at other ways they can build a positive legacy for Bradley, including ways of offering more support for siblings of victims of knife crime.

Reflecting on the event Ms Leadbeater said: “Having met with Elaine, Kelly and Bryony since being elected it was important to me to host this gathering and to hear from key people about the work being done to tackle knife crime across our local area.

“Among the many outcomes was the willingness of the various agencies to work together, to share knowledge and experience, and to work with young people to drive home the potentially life-changing consequences of carrying a knife.”