'My heart was racing... it just takes you back to that terrible time'

Watching on as an officer pulls one knife after the other out of the amnesty bin, Tracy Marsland is almost overcome with emotion.

“I feel sick seeing them,” she said, taking deep breaths with her hand on her chest, on her t-shirt a photo of her smiling son, beneath the words ‘FOREVER 17’.

“But this is worth its weight in gold.”

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It’s a grey November morning in Heywood, Rochdale. Breath turns to mist as cars trundle past the non-descript metal box outside the police station.

The box isn't for post, or recycling. It’s a knife amnesty bin, and is the first of its kind in Heywood, installed outside the police station in August this year.

The air is full of the clang of metal as, one by one, a total of 53 knives in all shapes and sizes are pulled out of the box. Laid out carefully, they are ready to be counted, categorised, and then destroyed.

For Tracy, this moment has a special yet tragic significance. Her son Callum Riley was killed in Heywood in September 2022, aged just 17, after a tit-for-tad feud with a drug dealer ended in him being stabbed. His murder sent shockwaves across the local community.

Also watching on is Kelly Brown, whose sixteen-year-old son Rhamero West was killed in a senseless knife attack in Old Trafford in September 2021. She has gone on to set up a foundation in his name, write a book and has won a number of awards for her work raising awareness of knife crime, which has included several marches across Manchester.

“I used to be a shy button,” laughs Kelly. “I worked in a school and I wouldn’t even get up in assembly.

“But the November after Mero was killed, I hit those streets, I stormed and screamed and didn’t give up and I made that noise. He’s given me my voice.”

Both Kelly and Tracy’s sons’ cases ended in convictions and sentences for those responsible. For the murder of Rhamero West, Marquis Richards, now 19, of Anne Nuttall Road, Hulme, was sentenced to 17 years and three months in May 2022.

Ryan Cashin, now 22, of Nancy Street, Hulme, was jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years and four months; and Giovanni Lawrence, now 22, of Culmington Close, Hulme, was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years and seven months.

Meanwhile, the three men responsible for the killing of Callum Riley were sentenced in June this year after being found guilty of murder. Tony Adams, 35, of Minshull New Road, Crewe was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 24 years. Dale Heywood, 27, of Windermere Road, Middleton was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 24 years.

Niall Conaghan, 18, of Minshull New Road, Crewe, was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 8 years.

But the news of these sentences proved little comfort to the pair, who have become friends, united by tragedy.

“The people who did it get visits and get to see their family,” Tracy told the M.E.N. “We don’t. We don’t get to see our sons at Christmas.”

“We’re serving life sentences,” nodded Kelly. “People always ask me if I feel justice has been done. But I hate that word.”

Today, they’ve been invited down to see what police hope will help prevent similar tragedies occurring again.

The 53 knives withdrawn from this bin join those collected from similar bins in Rochdale and Middleton. The haul of 119 knives is laid out on a table inside the police station.

Spanning everything from kitchen knives, meat cleavers, screwdrivers, rambo and zombie knives, two samurai swords and a pizza cutter, it makes for an imposing sight – and especially affecting for Kelly and Tracy.

“My heart was racing, I was just staring at them. It just takes you back to that terrible time,” said Kelly.

“I couldn’t go in at first,” agreed Tracy. “I just felt sick to my stomach. It’s so shocking, seeing them. But it’s bittersweet – definitely for the greater good.”

The project is only three months old, but for police, the size of the haul is a sign that their initiative to take knives off the streets of Rochdale is slowly starting to work.

“It’s heart-warming to see how the town has engaged with it,” said PCSO Jenny George. In the job for over 18 years, this project is clearly close to her heart. She attended court with Tracy when her son’s killers were on trial.

“As well as the kitchen knives, there are some weapons in there that are clearly designed to hurt people,” said Insp. Graham Cooke, Neighbourhood Inspector for Heywood and Middleton. “To see those in the bin, that’s a big deal. People have obviously realised it was wrong, and knew they had to get rid of them.”

Inspired by Lancashire Police’s amnesty bins, Jenny worked with the local authority to secure the funding, and consulted with designers Wybone to construct the bin. Made from galvanised steel, it features hidden locks, concealed hinges (so they can’t be ground off) and a one-way chute to make ‘magnet fishing’ impossible.

“After Callum’s murder there was a lot of tension and fear in the community,” said Jenny. “It became evident that young people, innocent children, were carrying weapons.

“They were quite visibly upset because they were carrying them out of fear, but knew it was wrong, and didn’t know what to do. These young people needed a way out.”

“What do parents do if they find a knife in their child’s room? It’s either report it, criminalise them, or be seen to encourage them. There was no in between.

“But we don’t want to criminalise people, we want to help them, and try to divert them away from crime.”

Neighbourhood Inspector Cooke added that there was a history in Heywood of people disposing of unwanted kitchen knives in back alleys, bushes and on top of bins.

There had previously been an amnesty bin inside Rochdale police station, which saw 60 knives handed in the previous quarter – but that involved walking through public reception, and being seen on CCTV.

“The beauty of this is that you can pull up next to it, jump out the car, drop it in, and you’re gone,” said Graham. “There’s no fear factor, being questioned, or giving details.”

Jenny said: “For me, policing changes day by day, week by week. If you think of the systems that we've got in place, the techniques we've been using, it’s been the same for 20 or 30 years.

“But young people evolve year from year. We need to evolve with them.”

The bins across Rochdale are a pilot project that Jenny hopes will go force-wide across Manchester. They will also soon bear QR codes with information on where to find defibrillators and bleed kits, as well as a video featuring young people talking about the impact of knife crime. There are also plans to deliver an education programme for local schools.

Kelly and Tracy are happy with the outcome of the pilot scheme, but think intervention should start even earlier.

“I think the government needs to bring knife crime to the curriculum, in primary schools, for years 5 and 6,” said Kelly. “People shy away from the topic, but that’s the vital age – to stop generations repeating themselves.”

“Get us mothers into primary schools,” agreed Tracy. “Before they transition into high school, that’s the age to instil that fear in them and get them told. Don’t go down that route.”

Councillor Daalat Ali, deputy leader and cabinet member for public health and communities for Rochdale Borough Council, said in a statement: “As a result of receiving over 1,200 responses from a young people’s knife crime survey, our community safety service worked together with young people to develop a short film, and installed amnesty knife bins outside the three police stations in our borough.

“Those young people also directly informed other serious violence prevention programmes to be delivered in schools across the borough as part of our wider reducing serious violence approach.

“We want to create a place that we can all take pride in and working together with GMP on a number of engagement events means that we are nearer to achieving this aim.”

Heywood & Middleton MP Elsie Blundell, who had ben there when the amnesty bin was installed in August, said she was thrilled to see the number of weapons that had been surrendered.

“This many lethal weapons removed from the streets of Heywood in just three months is quite simply phenomenal.

“I hope this initiative provides reassurance to my constituents that GMP is committed to robustly addressing knife crime.”