Brother of murdered teen Jon-Jo Highton relives machete horror in knife crime documentary

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Cutting Deep: The Knife Crime Crisis talks to one of the most hard-hitting anti-knife crime school teachers in the country, and looks at the issues facing young people and weapons.

A brand new documentary explores the rise in children carrying knives, and the worrying increase in deadly weapons being marketed to young people on social media.

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Machete murder

Byron Highton watched his little brother die in a machete attack, in Preston, in 2014. In the half-hour long programme, Byron, from Deepdale, tells Shots! TV how he channelled his grief into becoming one of the leading anti-knife crime educators in the UK.

‘Brutal’ weapons marketed at children

Today, he runs the JJ Effect and works along-side Lancashire Police to teach troubled youngsters about the dangers of carrying a knife. In the video, Byron shows journalist, Lucinda Herbert, a selection of large knives and weapons that have been handed to him by young people during his sessions in schools, prisons and youth groups.

‘Brainwashed’ into knife crime

Holding up a range of zombie knives, Rambo knives, and machetes, he points out that some are ‘cheaply made’, have bright colours and ‘brutal names’ - all aimed at the youth market. He adds that knives are ‘part of the fashion’ - along with balaclavas and drill music, and that children are ‘brainwashed’ into thinking they need to carry a weapon.

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In the documentary, Sergeant Dan Whittaker from Blackpool Police shows Lucinda Herbert some of the knife-crime hotspots in the resort. They also visit a knife amnesty bin during Op Sceptre knife crime awareness week.

Watch the full documentary on the Shots! TV video on demand platform https://www.shotstv.com/watch/vod/52484334 or on Freeview channel 276.

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