A message from Cllr Sarah Warren, Deputy Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council
It is with great sadness that I am writing this week, following the horrific incidents in Bath and in Nottingham.
Our thoughts are with those who knew and loved 16-year-old Mikey Roynon, who died on Saturday in the tragic incident in Weston, Bath. Our thoughts are also with the family and friends of Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace Kumar, who were killed in Nottingham.
Locally, we know that parents, schools and communities are deeply concerned about what happened in Weston, coming as it does after the tragic death of 18-year-old Ben Moncrieff.
Ours is generally a safe city and area but we are sadly not immune to the national issue of knife crime. It’s important the police continue to take a strong approach to enforcement, wherever necessary and appropriate.
On Monday we set out, in a joint letter with Avon and Somerset Police, some of the immediate actions that are being undertaken particularly around support for young people traumatised by Saturday’s tragedy.
The letter includes a list of useful contacts should your child need support if they were witnesses or have been traumatised by this tragedy or national events and need to talk them through.
At time of writing there is a live police investigation and it is extremely important there should be no commentary or sharing of information or images online which could in any way prejudice any future proceedings.
It can be an offence to identify anyone who witnessed all or part of the incident as well as those who have been charged.
Please also remember the impact the sharing of images, footage or even discussing the incident online may have on Mikey’s family. They are already going through the most difficult of times and you may cause them further upset.
However, if you do have information which could help the police investigation, call 101 and give the call handler the reference number 5223136640.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have provided support and response, including the emergency services, voluntary and community organisations, Youth Connect South West and the many others who work to keep us safe and provide support to our young people. |
