‘My friend was stabbed to death - but the threats my son faces are worse’

Carl Scott has seen how people can be stabbed to death for staggeringly pathetic reasons and that just being associated with the wrong person can cost a life.

“A lad that had just joined our group of friends got himself involved in some trouble and my pal had been seen walking through the street with him,” he told Express.co.uk.

“Next minute we had a car screeching up, two guys jumped out and put a carving knife in my pal’s chest. He died in my arms. He lost his life for nothing whatsoever, he didn't do anything wrong.”

The traumatic incident from years ago still haunts Mr Scott. The frightening thing is that he is seeing the same pattern with young people today. If anything, it’s getting worse.

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Based in Hastings, East Sussex, Mr Scott is an ex-gang member who’s spent time in prison and had issues with substance abuse. He has since turned his life around and now mentors at-risk youngsters through his social enterprise Project Youth. The youth worker also seeks to promote a positive message through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

But he has found the dangers facing young people extend beyond those he meets through his work. In the past year, the threat of violence has found its way into his own home.

“Two days ago there was a ranting and raving phone call to my daughter's phone,” he said.

“They said when they see my son they're gonna stab him and if he ever comes [around their area] they're going to serve him up.

“He hasn't even done anything wrong to the kid who called. It was all about a conversation at school.

“My boy was having a conversation with his mate who this lad wanted to speak to but couldn’t right away because he was finishing their conversation and now he’s threatening to stab him.”

Mr Scott has been trying to make contact with the parents of the other teen in question but has so far been unsuccessful. He would prefer to make them aware before contacting the police.

It’s not the first time his son has been threatened.

“Just before Christmas. He was on his e-scooter going to play football when he spotted these boys. He knew straight away who they were and he turned around,” Mr Scott added.

“The way they behaved and they carried themselves in the community, he wanted no part of that. But they shouted his name and chased him down with a knife threatening to stab him.

“He had to race down into a big retail place, crying and asking them to call the police.”

Bleed control kits

Fortunately, Mr Scott’s son was able to escape unscathed. But he feels the near miss emphasised the need for him to persist with one of his other projects; installing emergency bleed control kits on the streets.

Containing specialist equipment specifically designed to help stop extreme blood loss while an injured person waits for an ambulance, Mr Scott plans to install the kits in boxes on walls across the country. Should an incident take place the equipment bag can be accessed with a code linked to a crime reference number.

“I'm putting up these bleed control cabinets because I know how big the risk is,” he continued, “Obviously I don't want these kits to be used ever, if they don't get used that’s amazing.”

Mr Scott has been trying to generate momentum behind his campaign in the media. He appeared on Good Morning Britain, where he demonstrated the kit on Martin Lewis, and has signed up Jessie Wallace’s half-sister Danielle Mason as an ambassador.

The trouble has been convincing places to fix the kits on their walls. It appears to be that, while people can understand how vital they can be in saving lives, the reputational impact of having one on the side of your establishment stops people from coming forward. In Hastings, a town reliant on tourism, it has been a particular sticking point.

Mr Scott said: “The brick wall I keep hitting is the stigma around the boxes. People say ‘we haven't got this problem’.

“I think the worry is you've got tourists coming down and seeing big red boxes screwed onto walls. People are fear they’ll wonder ‘What the hell's going on in this area? This can't be a safe place’

“But I'm putting up a box to make people safe. If an incident is going to happen that will save someone's life. People are not going to like it when there’s a cordon up because someone's laying there dead because they've been stabbed.”

It can be difficult for Mr Scott to try to protect young people from the fate he has horrific first-hand experience of.

“I have to check myself sometimes because I get very agitated, especially if I'm talking to young people who are telling me they're carrying a knife,” he continued, “I have to pull myself back because I'm not going to be able to get the response I want out of them if I engage in a conversation that's agitated.

“But after I've finished with that session, I reflect on it and he does bother me. I don't want to see these kids getting stabbed and killed.”

It’s difficult when Mr Scott discovers kids he’s working with have nearly been killed as happened recently.

“There was a young person I was working with who was stabbed in the bicep. He was set up by a girl who lured him to some woods where he got attacked. It was over a £10 bloody bag of weed or something and he wasn’t even wanting to go to the hospital about it even though he was severely damaged.”

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