Hero's sister: Education alone won't stop violence

Jan 19 2010 by Jeff Holmes, Paisley Daily Express

THE sister of a hero soldier who was stabbed to death welcomed a Scottish Government campaign to tackle knife crime but insists even tougher action is needed.

Kelly McGee spoke out last night, just hours after Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill launched an anti-blade initiative dubbed No Knives, Better Lives.

The Paisley Daily Express yesterday revealed how 26-year-old Kelly has started her own campaign to help bring an end to the senseless knife culture that has left her family and many others across Scotland devastated.

Kellys brother Paul was fatally stabbed outside the family home in October last year and she is calling for mandatory jail sentences to be introduced for all those who are caught carrying knives.

The campaign launched yesterday by the Scottish Government involves a series of hard-hitting posters, bus advertisements and pavement chalk stencils which aim to show the life-changing choice between knife or life that many young people face.

But Kelly insists the initiative does not go far enough.

She told the Paisley Daily Express: The governments campaign is a start and anything that can help to save a life has to be applauded.

However I dont think itll solve the problem on its own.

Its all very well the government trying to educate kids but teenagers should already know right from wrong.

Unless you punish someone hard for carrying a knife, they will keep doing it.

I reckon a mandatory prison sentence is the only deterrent.

If teenagers see their friends being locked up, it might move them to take steps to avoid suffering a similar fate.

Paul was stabbed during an incident outside his home in Lochwinnoch in the early hours of October 25 and died a short time later in Paisleys Royal Alexandra Hospital.

The tragedy came two years after tank driver Paul risked his life in a desperate bid to save a drowning comrade in Iraq an act which earned him the prestigious Queens Commendation for Bravery.

The McGee family should be helping Paul celebrate his 29th birthday on Thursday but, instead, Kelly and her mum Anne will travel to the Scottish Parliament to discuss knife crime legislation with MSPs.

Mr MacAskill is hoping the No Knives, Better Lives campaign which will also see special adverts being screened at a number of cinemas over the next two months will help to make sure that other families dont suffer the same heartache as that experienced by Pauls loved ones.

He said: Far too many lives are lost and people injured though mindless acts of violence, often because of the knife culture that blights some communities.

That is why we are working to change the culture around violence in Scotland.

The No Knives, Better Lives initiative will be taking this message all around the country in an effort to educate as many young people as possible and make Scotland safer and stronger.