Thank You For Not Smoking Stabbing Anyone…

The mother of a teenager who lost his life to violent crime has thanked young Londoners who took part in a 100-day truce.

Did anyone notice? I certainly didn’t!

And it seems we had plenty of street hoodrats settling scores the usual way for the duration.

Margaret Mizen’s son Jimmy, 16, died after his killer hurled a glass dish at him during an attack in Lee, south-east London, in 2008. Last night, she was joined by Grace Idowu, whose son David, 14, was fatally stabbed in Southwark the same year, and 1,000 young people at a Jimmy Mizen Foundation concert at the Indig02.

Attended by Mayor Boris Johnson and X Factor winner Shayne Ward, the concert marked the end of their “100 days of peace” campaign, inspired by a tradition in ancient Greece where hostilities ceased during the Olympics.

And what do they plan to do now? Why, another pointless gesture! How surprising!

Mrs Mizen and Mrs Idowu have now launched a new campaign, Release the Peace, which aims to curb gangs by helping youngsters unleash their creativity. Mrs Mizen, 60, said teenagers at risk of joining gangs needed to be “nurtured and given the love and care they need” .

She said: “Some of them will make great leaders if we can coerce them into the right path.”

I don’t think I’ll be hugging these hoodies, love.

Mrs Mizen said: “We talk about actions and consequences because a lot of these young people who carry knives don’t think of the consequences. They don’t think that if they take out a knife they could be going to prison for 25 years. ”

That’s because it rarely if ever goes down like that.

Maybe that’s where you should be targeting your efforts?