Mother of teen stabbed to death in row over £5 calls for more Government help to tackle knife crime crisis
Tanya Brown lost her son Connor after he was fatally attacked on a night out in 2019
The mother of a teenager who was stabbed to death in a row over £5 is calling on the Government to roll out more support to help tackle the crisis around knife crime.
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Tanya Brown's son Connor, 18, was murdered in 2019 in Sunderland after he stepped in to defend his friends who had been threatened with a knife by Leighton Barrass and his accomplice Ally Gordon, who were both 20 at the time.
A court heard at the time that Barrass tried to sell the group drugs for £5 and when his offer was refused, he threatened to "stab anyone" in revenge.
An argument broke out, and when aspiring boxer Connor intervened, he was fatally stabbed by Barrass.
The killer was convicted of murder and Gordon, who delivered kicks during the attack, was found guilty by a jury of manslaughter.
Read more: Pictured: Woman, 34, knifed to death in Birmingham city centre attack
Connor's mother Tanya has since channelled her grief to launch the Connor Brown Trust, which aims to educate youngsters around the dangers of carrying weapons.
But despite previously meeting Sir Keir Starmer, she says extra help could be handed down from Number 10 to stop similar incidents from repeating.
The plea for action comes weeks after 15-year-old Mohammed Umar Khan was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years following the death of Harvey Willgoose.
The Sheffield schoolboy, also 15, was stabbed in the chest in front of horrified children by 'knife obsessed' Khan, who had taken a hunting knife in with him that day.
Harvey's family have since campaigned against knife crime with a particular focus on getting metal detector-style knife arches into schools.
Tanya told LBC she backs calls from Harvey's mother Caroline to introduce knife-arches, but only if they're used for spontaneous checks.
She said: "It doesn't surprise me that Harvey had told his parents there were knives in school.
"I do agree with knife arches being brought in but I think they need to be randomly brought in instead of permanently.
"Kids can be very, very clever. They know that if there is an arch they have to pass through that will find a weapon, they will hide it outside.
"It could be in somebody's garden, over a wall, or somewhere in a bush. That way they can just quickly pick it up on the way home, so the altercation is still going to happen.
"I also think they should be put in random locations in the schools. It could be on doors outside assemblies or canteens.
"I do think it's happening more where kids are taking them to school because there are altercations that are occurring as they leave at the end of the day and they are equipping themselves for that."
Tanya, 45, who is also mother to Ellen, 20, now works full-time in delivering education workshops on behalf of the charity.
Figures obtained from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) showed that while the total offensive weapon offences committed by children (3,200) had fallen in 2024, it was still 20% higher than ten years ago.
Tanya says she has been in touch with Caroline over message to offer her support.
"I was pleased to see Harvey's killer named by the judge. I saw a picture of the knife he had and it was horrendous," she said.
"Education for me is always first and foremost. Educate to prevent is our motto.
"We need to educate our young people because at the end of the day, they know the law. They know it's illegal, they know it's wrong.
"You have to hit them where it's going to make an impact. And that unfortunately is coming from the likes of myself.
"It's coming up seven years since Connor was taken but what happened to him is still very much apparent."
Tanya, who set up the charity alongside her husband Simon, met with Starmer in 2023 with another grieving mum to help shape Labour's policy on knife crime, but she says charities like hers need more support.
"Keir Starmer promised a lot with knife crime and he has implemented the bans on weapons but that should have been in place anyway," she added.
"When it comes down to it, it is the smaller groups like myself and other charities who actually doing the work.
"But we can't apply for these big pots of funding because we're just small charities.
"We can only do it so long before we have to go back to our old jobs.
"There is so many smaller charities out there created by families who have lost their children through knife crime and are doing the most impactful work.
"We rely purely on fundraising and get nothing from the Government.
"Knife crime is always going to be there but I don't want more communities becoming like the streets of some cities where attacks are a common thing.
"I want our streets to be safe. I want people to feel safe to walk down the street and go into the town centres.
"There's so many opportunities out there for young people as well and I want them to take these opportunities.
"Connor had so many dreams he was working towards what he wanted and it was taken away."