A grieving mum has issued a dire verdict over knife crime after her 16-year-old son was stabbed to death in a brutal murder.

Pooja Kanda, 47, says she feels “sad and hopeless” over the increase in knife violence among young people. Her son Ronan was the victim of mistaken identity when two teenagers – who had bought a set of swords and a machete online – intended to harm Ronan’s friend, to whom one of them had owed money.

There has been a spate of horrific knife crimes recently and, every time Pooja hears about new tragedies, she recalls the day her son was killed in Lanesfield, Wolverhampton.

The mum said last night: “It’s very hard to continue to live in a positive way when you continuously see knife violence growing among these children. Things are definitely getting worse. It’s getting younger and younger, children are now 12 years old, who are being killed.”

Leo Ross, 12, was stabbed to death recently in Hall Green, Birmingham, and Harvey Willgoose, 15, was fatally attacked with a hunting knife at school by Granville Road, Sheffield.

Alluding to these awful tragedies, Pooja added: “Every time something like that happens your heart is broken over and over. I just feel it takes me back to the day, how painful that moment was. I reach out to the parents. I text them, email them or find a way to speak to them.”

Ronan, who had dreams of becoming a lawyer, had just completed his GCSEs when he was killed in June 2022. Speaking at the time, relatives said the youngster “would do anything for anyone. He was a funny character who made everyone laugh around him.”

In July 2023, judge Mr Justice Choudhury lifted reporting restrictions on naming the teenage killers, Prabjeet Veadhesa and Sukhman Shergill. He made the decision in part to send out a strong message about the seriousness of knife crime, he said.

But since then knife attacks have continued across the country. Official figures last summer showed knife crime had soared by nearly 80% in 10 years. According to more recent NHS data – published in early February – the percentage of hospital admissions due to knife attacks in the zero to 17 age group is the highest in the past decade.

Pooja, who is part of the government’s coalition to tackle knife crime, has been campaigning against the advertising and sale of bladed weapons. The mum, from Wolverhampton, has emphasised the need for early intervention and better school policies.

She said: “The schools are the hot spots where this type of behaviour begins. I think prevention needs to start from primary school and the police also need to step up. If my son can lose his life, so can any innocent child.”

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