The Man Swapping Knives On The Street For JD Sports Vouchers

11 March 2019, 08:54

This is the brilliant explanation of how knife crime has exploded on London's streets - by a Tottenham man trying to take knives off the streets.

Faron Alex Paul runs an informal knife amnesty, in which he swaps knives for JD Sports vouchers.

He started because he has kids and he doesn't want them to grow up in a world that is so dangerous.

And speaking to Ian Payne, he explained how the smallest disagreement can result in a murder.

He told Ian: "Tou're not a threat because you're not going to just get out and start a madness and over postcode. Your postcode don't really relate to what's going on in N15 and N5 and SE8.

"Imagine now that all of us young black boys, we're wearing the baddest boy clothes, we've got the sexiest clothes on, we've got jewellery on, we've got big haircuts, we got to the gym, my chest is buff, we look good.

"But what gwan though, if I see a guy that looks good and I'm looking at his trainers and I'm looking at his jacket and I'm looking at his chain and his flipping £30,000 watch to say 'Right he looks good', before I even get say 'That looks good,' that guy would be 'What are you're looking at?'

'So before I've even got a chance to say 'Mate, I like your trainers and your thousand pound jacket,' it's like 'Who the hell are you talking to me like that?' And before you know it, you're in a confrontation. He could be a friend, you could be a friend.

"A fist fight always turns into a blade fight and a blade fight always turns to bleeding. And bleeding usually results in death. Bang. It's that simple."

Faron, who describes himself as "Daddy by day, vigilante by night" gets contacted by youngsters and goes to pick up their knife before handing it in to the police.

Swapping it for JD Sports vouchers out of his own pocket, he says companies like that could work with his project to help reduce knife crime.

It's a fascinating interview - watch it at the top of the page.