THE father of a boy stabbed to death wants to visit Braintree district schools to warn youngsters about the dangers of knife crime.

Trevor Woolley’s son, Ashley, 18, was murdered in a park in Chelmsford in December 2014, by Stephen Davenport, also 18.

Mr Woolley, of Witham, said: “How do you teach these kids not to do it?

"Every time I hear about these things it just brings back what happened to Ash.

“People are going around stabbing people in the buttocks or in the legs as they feel it’s safer, but they don’t realise they can still kill someone.

“Anywhere can be fatal.

“It devastates everyone.  It devastates the dead’s family but also the family of the killer.”

Mr Woolley spoke after a youth from Witham was arrested on suspicion of carrying out Saturday’s attack, which saw a man airlifted to hospital.

He was later bailed and has not been charged with any offence.

Mr Woolley said he would like to see schools in the town invite antiknife crime charity Only Cowards Carry – of which he is a board member – to deliver workshops to youngsters.

He said: “People assume that it’s to do with drugs, but if you look at Ash his killer was spending most of his time playing Playstation games and it was his fantasy.

“That’s where you have to teach them not to carry the knives in the first place. When you carry a weapon you are upping the ante.”

He added: “We have to start somewhere for the next generation.

“It isn’t just happening in the inner cities, where you expect it to happen. It’s right on our doorsteps.”

Only Cowards Carry has installed knife amnesty bins in Colchester and Braintree.

Mr Wooley said: “If one knife gets handed in, that’s potentially one life that’s saved.

“People carry them for their own protection because they think that’s the best thing to do.

“I would go in to the schools and put it into the youngsters’ heads not to do it.”