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By CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
 

Hampstead PC James Day, co-founder of MAAMA (Mothers Against Aggression And Murder) and Comedy School worker Jo Rouse, with David Harkness, Joseph Hinds and Sean Nevin, friends of Tommy Winston
Teens admit: 'Knife deaths left us scared'

Play delivers anti-violence message as pupils voice fear about safety on streets

TEENAGERS have spoken of their fear of being attacked in the wake of two killings in Camden Town and Kentish Town this year.
Melissa Cuff, 14, who watched the staging of an anti-weapon play, It’s No Joke, at Parliament Hill School in Highgate on Thursday, said afterwards that the knifing of Mahir Osman and Tommy Winston, both 18, in separate attacks had left her and her friends feeling scared.
She said: “Since the deaths of Tommy and Mahir we’ve had discussions about it between friends. It doesn’t feel safe any more. Anyone could carry a knife or get stabbed. I definitely feel scared.”
After the play, staged by the Comedy School, a theatre company supported by the police, friends of Tommy Winston warned youngsters about the dangers involved in carrying knives and guns.
Leanne Nelson, 15, who attends Parliament Hill School, felt the play’s message had hit home with its young audience. She said: “One of Tommy’s friends said how three of his mates had died and it just goes to show how many people carry knives and have been hurt.” It’s No Joke, first seen in Camden two years ago, has been touring secondary schools in the borough. It uses humorous sketches to promote an anti-violence message.
The company’s motto is “If they’re laughing they’re listening”. Director Keith Palmer, a former stand-up comic, said: “It is through humour we can communicate with young people.”
Inspector Paul Peplow, from Hampstead Police Station, said the recent killings had given the play a greater poignancy.
He added that posters warning against weapon use are to go up on bus shelters and buses in Camden Town at the end of this month. The posters were designed by pupils at Acland Burghley School, which Tommy Winston attended.
PC James Day, who held a question-and-answer session after the play, said: “It’s brilliant that they respect the message about knives. If a knife is out there it can end up getting used. The red mist comes down in the heat of the moment.”
Jo Rouse, who co-founded Mothers Against Aggression and Murder 12 years ago and now works for Comedy School, said: “It doesn’t stop with a child who takes a weapon on the street. There is a ripple effect. It stops with the knock on the door.
“Either your child has been murdered or has murdered someone. Then both families start a life sentence.”
 
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