The graffiti artist who created murals for alleged stabbing victims Holly Newton and Gordon Gault explained that knife crime on his estate as he was growing up prompted him to campaign against knife crime.
Geordie Graffiti recently created a mural for Haltwhistle teenager Holly who tragically died following an alleged stabbing in Hexham town centre on January 27.
A large mural for 15-year-old has now appeared near the Sage in Gateshead, alongside a mural in memory of 14-year-old Gordon who died in hospital in November, six days after he was allegedly struck with a blade while out on his bike in Elswick.
The creator of Geordie Graffiti, Dean, revealed that growing up in the area where Gordon was found motivated him to create a mural calling for justice for Gordon, as well as a piece calling for people to "Drop knives". But the 30-year-old explained that two stabbings in his community as he was growing up sparked him to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying a knife.
Dean said: "I did the 'drop knives' piece first because I grew up on Stanhope Street, Arthur's Hill, and I used to knock about around the area where Gordon was killed.
"I've seen lots of knife crime. Natalie Ruddick was murdered on the estate when I was young, she was a schoolgirl. And then there was Jodie Wilkinson who was murdered on Stanhope Street too.
"I wanted to get a the message across to people to drop knives."
Natalie was just 12-years-old when she was stabbed to death in her home in Arthur's Hill in 2003. Dean was 11-year-old when the incident happened close to his home.
Dean also recalls how 27-year-old Jodie was stabbed to death in front of shocked parents and schoolchildren during a violent clash between two groups of people, on the afternoon of October 17, 2016. She was walking along Stanhope Street with friends when she was knifed during an altercation between one of her friends and a group of strangers.
Dean added: "It's very sad because they haven't got to live their adult lives, there's so much that won't have got to do. They'll never have kids or the feeling of getting married and having jobs - everyday things that we might take for granted they've had taken away from them.
"I wanted to do something that helps to raise awareness [of the impact of knife crime] or helps people impacted by it right now."
Earlier this week ChronicleLive launched the Stop Knives Taking Lives campaign, after three teenagers lost their lives to knife violence in just four months. Backed by police, politicians and victims' families ChronicleLive is calling on communities across the North East to come together to tackle knife crime.
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