THE MOTHER of a promising teenage footballer from Enfield who was knifed to death in the street last year has backed our anti-knife crime campaign.

Godwin Lawson, 17, was killed when he tried to protect his friend from an attack in Stamford Hill, Hackney, in April last year, after he returned home for the weekend from Oxford United Academy, where he was learning to become a footballer.

Mourners at Godwin's funeral last year were told that the greatest tribute to him would be “to not pick up a knife” – and his mother Yvonne has continued this by backing the Enfield Independent's Don't Carry, Don't Kill campaign.

In a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron calling for action, she said: “Nothing can prepare a parent for losing a child, and for our son to be robbed from us in the most horrific manner has changed our lives forever.

“Godwin had been involved in a campaign against the postcode rivalry problems between young people – as you can see, he became a victim of the very issue he had worked hard to campaign against.”

Killer Moise Avorgah, 21, of St Ann's Road, Tottenham, was convicted of Godwin's murder at a trial in February and was jailed for life with a minimum terms of 19 years.

Since then, Mrs Lawson has set up the Godwin Lawson Foundation – which is campaigning to use sports as a way of combating gang rivalries.

She called on Mr Cameron to provide funding for her campaign and to support our campaign – to extend new sentencing powers for a six-month mandatory jail sentence for those caught using a knife aggressively to under 18s.

She added: “I think it is an important problem we must tackle head on as soon as possible.

“Since Godwin's death, other young people have lost their lives in London and we must see some decisive action before we see more deaths and violence in our capital.”

Enfield North MP Nick de Bois and Enfield Southgate MP David Burrowes met with Justice Secretary Ken Clarke on Thursday to discuss the proposals, which are due before Parliament next month.

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