Dad and aunt of Halifax stabbing victim Casey Badhams join call for knife amnesty bins

Casey Badhams, 21, died after being attacked on Myrtle Avenue in Ovenden earlier this month.

His dad Paul Badhams and aunt Mandy O’Shea are backing a campaign for bins to be placed in Ovenden, Illingworth and Mixenden so that weapons can be disposed of safely.

Nikki Kelly, Conservative council candidate and Mixenden resident, is leading the call in the wake of Casey’s death.

She said she once stopped a child she spotted on the streets with a bread knife.

“Local people are seeing children running around with knives,” she said. “It’s scary.

“We don’t want what happened to Casey happening again.”

She said Casey was well-known in North Halifax and his death has shocked people.

She hopes if people see knife amnesty bins in the area, they will use them, and has urged the police to install them soon.

“We hope people who are carrying a knife will have a conscience and drop it in the bin.”

Nikki added she thinks a lack of activities and facilities for young people in North Halifax has contributed to a rise in youngsters carrying knives.

Casey’s aunt, Mandy, said: “Casey was a lovely young lad.

“We don’t want it to become the norm for people to carry a knife - it’s not something that we want to see happening in Halifax.”

Calderdale Police’s Chief Inspector Adrian Waugh said: “Knife crime can have a devastating impact on our communities – for those involved, their families and local residents. Only last December, West Yorkshire Police took part in a nationally run weapons surrender.

Through Operation Jemlock we as a force are taking proactive action to tackle serious violence including knife crime.”