Mansfield's Mini Police cadets learn of knife crime dangers

The Mini Police crew, from Mansfield’s Wainwright Primary Academy, were supported by the local neighbourhood policing team to visit the Choices and Consequences exhibition at the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham.

The exhibition, held in partnership with the Ben Kinsella Trust, is designed to warn children of the dangers and potential consequences of carrying a knife in public, and to empower them to make better choices as they grow up.

As part of their visit on April 27, the Year Five pupils got to speak to a young woman who is currently serving a jail sentence for her involvement in a fatal stabbing.

PCSO Romek Kordecki, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As police officers much of our work is about finding and punishing people who have broken the law.

"But equally important is the work we put into educating people about the about the potential consequences of crime.

“This topic is particularly important because the consequences of this type of offending are so serious.

"Clearly, we need to be careful how we present this information to young people, and I thought this exhibit did a fantastic job of doing that.

“The children learned a lot and were really took a lot away from their conversation with a serving prisoner.

"If in future years this visit helps to persuaded even one of the children to make a better decisions than it will have been worth it.

“I would like to thank everyone involved for helping to make it happen, and also Councillor Marion Bradshaw, of Mansfield District Council, who very kindly funded the children’s bus travel to the venue.”

The Ben Kinsella Trust is an educational charity set up in memory of a young man from London who was stabbed to death in 2008.

Julia Hallam, of the Wainwright Primary Academy, said: “This was one of the most memorable school trips we have ever taken and the children haven’t stopped talking about it since.

"Knife crime is a very difficult topic to teach in an age-appropriate way, but the way it is handled by this exhibition is really impressive.

"I would like to thank everybody involved for making it happen.”

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