Large haul handed in by Chatteris boy as part of knife amnesty

Police say a large haul of knives was handed in by a boy in Chatteris as part of last week’s knife amnesty.

The collection of more than 20 knives was surrendered by the youngster after he emailed police to arrange handing them over.

He confided in officers that he didn’t feel comfortable travelling to a knife amnesty bin to hand them in, and that he used to collect them but didn’t want them anymore.

Officers visited his home under a new scheme piloted during the amnesty, where two dedicated email addresses were set up for people who wanted to dispose of weapons but, for whatever reason, couldn’t make it to the special bins.

Police have also been carrying out knife sweeps of hot spot areas, conducting test purchasing at shops with volunteer police cadets to make sure knives aren’t sold to those under 18, and visiting schools to educate the younger generation on the consequences of knife crime.

A police spokesman said: “Thank you to one young person in Chatteris, who had these at his home but emailed one of our knife amnesty mailboxes to say he’d like to hand them over to us.”

For more information and advice on knife crime, including where to get support, visit the police’s dedicated web pages.