Knife crime campaigners attend summit with King and PM

The parents of a 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to death at a party have met the King and prime minister at a summit in London.

Martin and Tara Cosser, from Milford, Surrey, set up the charity Charlie’s Promise following the death of their son Charlie in Warnham, West Sussex, in July 2023.

They attended a youth opportunities summit at St James’s Palace on Tuesday along with other knife crime campaigners, including actor Idris Elba.

Mr Cosser, who met King Charles for the first time, said: “I want actions to come out of today’s summit.”

The campaigner said Tuesday’s summit “included a lot of talking about knife crime”.

As a member of a government taskforce on the issue, Mr Cosser was meeting Sir Keir Starmer for the second time.

“You are inspirational,” the Prime Minister told Mr and Mrs Cosser.

“I find it really humbling that people that have been through some of the most horrendous ordeals are able then somehow to turn that around and channel it into work to help other people that they will probably never meet and never know,” Sir Keir said.

“I often ask myself, because we’ve got a 17-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, how would I react?

“And I’m not sure I would have the courage and resilience that you have to do what you do for other people.”

Mr Cosser said about meeting royalty and politicians: “These people are highly respected and highly influential.

“What I want to know is what they can do in the fight against knife crime and youth violence.

“I gave Idris Elba my business card and said ‘I want to hear from you’,” Mr Cosser said.

“He promised he’d come back to me.”

Mr Cosser has delivered more than 200 awareness talks in schools, and more than 10% of the students he addressed were at primary school.

Mr Cosser is calling for compulsory knife crime education.

He said: “The biggest tool we have against knife crime is education.

“We need to raise the voice of our young people.

“I’m convinced my little boy’s legacy has already saved lives and will continue to do so, and that’s through the power of education.”

The government has said it is committed to halving knife crime over the next decade.