Hunting for zombie knives in a city plagued by violence

Bristol has been shocked by a recent surge in knife crime, which has claimed the lives of countless teenagers and sent many more to prison. The BBC has joined a team trying to protect young people by taking guns off the streets.

“That’s the car, the grey one,” says an undercover officer, pointing to a battered Seat speeding through one of Bristol’s terraced streets.

Chased by sirens and blue lights, the young driver makes a critical mistake – he turns into a dead end road. There is a panic bend, parked cars are rammed.

Officers jump out of a patrol car and draw their batons. The mid-morning peace is shattered by car windows being smashed and orders being shouted.

“Stay where you are! Put your hands where we can see them!”

“Weapons found,” one of the officers shouts, holding up a large, curved zombie knife with a bright blue edge—and that’s not all.

Officer Christina Jones holds up a machete found under the seats.

“Nobody walks around with balaclavas and zombie knives with good intentions,” she says. “There’s a big chance that a conflict could arise from this.”

Inside the car are four young men, aged between 16 and 18, and in the middle seat is a 17-year-old girl. They are all handcuffed – shaking with adrenaline and shaking broken glass from their hoodies.

This is Operation Hardy, an initiative set up to stop the wave of teenage violence in the city.

“So young,” read the front page of the Bristol Post, alongside the beaming faces of Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, who were fatally stabbed in late January.

Less than three weeks later, Darrian Williams bled to death outside a store. The 16-year-old had been stabbed in the back in a park and staggered to the road to get help.

“Bristol and the surrounding areas are plagued by a plague of knife crime,” Judge Saini told the city’s Crown Court as he jailed three 16-year-olds convicted of murdering Mikey Roynon.

Last summer he was stabbed in the neck at a house party, and lost his life again at the age of 16.

“We have a lot of teenagers carrying knives – in their minds they think everyone else is carrying them,” PC Jones said. “Anything can happen – it can be a split second decision to use those knives with deadly consequences, and we’ve seen that a number of times this year, with people losing their lives.”

Others were seriously injured: a 16-year-old narrowly survived a stabbing at a McDonald’s in the city centre.

Many of the suspects, accused or convicted of these crimes are about the same age.

“It’s getting a bit out of hand,” PC Jones said. “We’re talking about disembowelment, life-changing injuries, amputations, serious brain injuries.”

It is not just the police that respond. In the city hall there are monthly meetings where education, health, community work, municipal services and law enforcement come together.

The room is filled with teachers who have lost students, social workers who have helped broken families and survivors, and doctors who have stitched children’s wounds or declared them dead.

Giles Haythornthwaite, a trauma doctor at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, is clear about the level of threat they faced.

“There was a real concern that it would escalate into a big gang war,” he said. “There’s no complacency – because it could happen tonight. We know we’re still at risk, but we want to ramp up prevention so we don’t get to the point of crisis.”

For councillor Tony Dyer, it’s about shared responsibility.

“There is no single organization that can solve this problem,” he says. “If we want to protect our young people, we all have to work together and make a collective effort.”

This is a renewed effort on a larger scale – sharing insights, intelligence and advice to help spot the signs that young people are sliding into violence. They are talking about vulnerable teens being “groomed” for crime in the same way that young people are sexually exploited.

Julia Grey, principal of City of Bristol College, is aware of this.

“It may look glamorous and tempting, but a life in the criminal world is a horrible life,” she says, “so we need to provide our young people with options to live a legitimate life.”

Operation Hardy is a sensitive initiative, balancing the concerns of residents who have witnessed bloodshed with complaints about disproportionate policing. There is resistance: a plan to install temporary metal detection knife arches in the city centre has been repeatedly postponed.

Some companies don’t like the image, some communities feel unfairly targeted. Stop and search has long been controversial, and police are wary of accusations of discrimination and heavy-handed tactics.

Officers are being advised against referring to “gangs” when describing violent groups, over concerns that this implies they are predominantly from black or minority ethnic backgrounds. The reality of youth violence in Bristol is multi-ethnic.

Avon and Somerset Police believe the growing problem is mainly affecting young men aged 14 to 19, but some boys are picking up weapons at a much younger age.

“There are six or seven-year-olds carrying knives,” says Zac Dugdale, a youth worker handing out bike helmets to a group of boys heading to the BMX track.

“I think the main reason they carry a knife is fear. When you think of a seven or eight year old, you think of a young person who has innocence, and right now we’re seeing young people losing that innocence at such a young age.”

Zac’s organisation, Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership, also runs ‘Talkback and Sides’, offering free haircuts combined with a candid chat.

“I just don’t feel safe outside,” says a nine-year-old in the barber chair. “I feel safer inside my house, not outside. Here I can have a good time without worrying about something bad happening.”

Even experienced officers seem discouraged.

“In the last few months I’ve seen more stabbings and murders than I’ve ever seen before,” PC Jones said. “I’ve got kids that age so I’m worried about that generation.”

She is looking for a 10-year-old boy – allegedly with a knife – who exposes himself to women and commits sexual assaults. He was eventually arrested and has been released, still under investigation.

And that’s the other fine balance here – engagement or enforcement, intervention or incarceration? The idea is to prevent minors from being criminalized, wherever possible.

“Putting a child in prison is not the answer,” says Detective Chief Inspector Larisa Hunt, who leads Avon and Somerset Police’s Early Intervention Team. “It’s not the answer because they’re going to get out of prison anyway, so what then?”

BBC News was given access to a weekly meeting that monitors young people most at risk of violence, as either perpetrators or victims – and often it is the same person who is at risk of both.

Updates are shared, incidents reported, movements tracked and action plans agreed upon. They discuss a couple of teenagers who stole a car last night after threatening the occupants with a machete and a gun.

There is an urgency to understand how they are connected – to the victims, to each other and to the rest of the faces on their wall of young people to worry about. One of the names is familiar and will be shared with the council’s youth team.

Another young man was threatened and trampled over a perceived debt. He won’t say by whom, but the team is still figuring out how to stop retaliatory attacks that could quickly escalate.

These are officers who really know the lives of these young people and their families. It is a job that falls somewhere between supervision and social work, but trust is fragile.

One boy has stopped responding to messages. He is reportedly staying with relatives outside the area, but there are fears he will return and relapse into criminal associations and violent confrontations. An officer is assigned to talk to his mother and agree a plan with his social worker.

Each case is discussed in detail with care, understanding and concern. The young people on their watchlist are treated as vulnerable children, likely to be exploited by older criminals and forced to smuggle drugs or possess weapons.

In the dead-end street where the chase ended, the five teenagers don’t have much to say. I asked a bearded, heavy-set 16-year-old why he was carrying such a dangerous weapon on a residential street on a Wednesday morning.

“I don’t know,” he says gruffly. “So I’m not the odd one out, maybe?” He says he didn’t mean to use it to hurt anyone: “I love knives, don’t I? I think they look nice.”

He was arrested for possession of a knife – as was the 18-year-old driver who was also charged with driving without a licence or insurance, and failing to stop signs. They are both awaiting a decision on charges. The three in the back seat were released.

Officer Christina Jones explains that proving possession of the machete and zombie knife found under the car seats could be difficult if they all deny committing the offense.

• If you feel you are in danger or are concerned that a friend is becoming involved in violence, you can call the Child Helpline on 0800 1111
• If you think it is an emergency, call the police immediately on 999

It’s hard to reconcile the brutality of the weapons and the shocking injuries they can inflict with the clumsy young men pacing nervously across the sidewalk.

Taking off their balaclavas has taken away any intimidating edge. These are not hardened gangsters. They try to appear arrogant to the officers, but they are not convincing.

They are children, wide-eyed and worried. But still, they were armed and capable of something very dangerous.

“Some of the things they do to each other are appalling,” says PC Jones. “They don’t seem to value human life in the same way. Maybe it’s their own value, or their value to each other.

“I feel like we still have a lot to do. We have success, but we need to do more, and not just police work.”

Additional reporting by Alex Littlewood