The mother of murdered Ipswich teenager Tavis Spencer-Aitkens has welcomed a decision to give police greater stop and search powers.
Seventeen-year-old Tavis was stabbed to death in Ipswich last June and five young men are due to be sentenced later this month for their involvement in the killing.
After a recent spate of stabbings across London and the rest of England since the start of 2019 Home Secretary, Sajid Javid this week granted police new powers to increase stop and search activity.
Following the announcement Tavis’s mother Sharon Box said: “ I fully agree with this decision. There should be more searches. It could save many more lives.
“If certain individuals aren’t carrying knives or weapons they have nothing to worry about if they are stopped and searched.
“Hopefully it will make people think twice about carrying a weapon in the future,” she added.
Tavis died in June last year after he was stabbed 15 times in Packard Avenue, Ipswich, in gang related violence.
Aristote Yenge, 23, of Spring Road, Ipswich, Kyreis Davies, 17, of Turnstile Square, Colchester, Adebayo Amusa, 20, of Sovereign Road, Barking and Isaac Calver, 19, of Firmin Close, Ipswich, were all convicted of murdering Tavis after a four month trial at Ipswich Crown Court.
A fifth man, Callum Plaats, 23, of Ipswich, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.
All five are due to be sentenced on 29 April.
Speaking after the trial Mrs Box said that although the convictions had given Tavis’s family some comfort they wouldn’t bring her son back.
“Nor will they bring to an end the heartache we will always feel without him in our lives. The pain we feel is indescribable. There is no escape from it,” said Mrs Box.
“My son died alone. I never got the chance to say goodbye. I never had the opportunity to tell him how much I love him. I never had the chance to hold his hand and comfort him as he slipped away.
“Tavis deserved to live his life. He deserved to marry and become a father,” said Mrs Box.
Following the verdicts she called for tougher sentences for people who carried knives and more stop and searches by police
“Too many lives have been lost across the country because of knife crime. Carrying knives costs lives,” she said.
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