THE family of Daniel Fox say they are “appalled and horrified” at recent figures revealing that more than a fifth of criminals convicted or cautioned for knife offences in Merseyside are children.

Ministry of Justice data shows that Merseyside Police prosecuted 550 people in the 12 months to June, either for possession of a knife as a weapon or threatening someone with one.

Of those 120 were aged between 10 and 17, which is an increase of 71 per cent since 2015, when 70 children were charged.

Of the total number of knife offenders, 132, or 24 per cent, had at least one previous caution or conviction for carrying a knife, and 24 of the criminals had three or more past offences.

Danny, 29, from Thatto Heath, died after suffering a single stab wound to the upper body on North John Street, St Helens in September 2016.

Since his death his family has founded The Daniel Fox Foundation and #NoMoreKnives campaign in his memory, to raise awareness and crucially to educate youths about the impact knife crime has on communities.

Speaking exclusively to the Star, his aunty Dawn Jones, said: “When I learned these shocking figures, we as a family was both appalled and horrified particularly with the age of some of the children.

“Before this happened to Daniel, we might have said carrying knives wasn’t a big issue, or a phase, but having been directly involved and following the excellent work by police, I can assure people that this is a big problem on our streets.

“That’s why we are focused on getting into schools, to Year 5 and 6, which would be around age 10, to tell pupils about the horrendous hurt knives can do not only to others but to themselves.

“People taking out knives can have them turned on themselves, it’s not big or clever, it is a crime to take out a knife and the courts need to be better at punishing people for these crimes and driving home the message that knives on our streets and in the hands of anyone, children or adults, it is not acceptable and it is a crime.

“Daniel’s nephew is 10 and if he was carrying a knife, and if Daniel was still here, I know he would have had strong words.

“This is not just about our family, it’s about potentially protecting others as well from going through what we have.”

Across England and Wales the number of reoffenders increased by 35 per cent over the last three years.

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