Student premieres knife crime movie

A short film created by a college student to raise awareness of knife crime is set to premiere.

Molly Stratford's Switchblade was inspired by the fatal stabbing of 26-year-old James Brindley, who was attacked near his family home in Aldridge, Walsall, in 2017.

The project, developed with support from The James Brindley Foundation and Brindley's parents, has been produced by students and features actors from Aldridge School.

Stratford, 18, said the film aimed to highlight the impact of knife crime while showcasing the work of young creatives in the region.

Ammar Kahrod was convicted of Brindley's murder and jailed in 2018. He was 17 at the time of sentencing.

While it was not the case in Brindley's stabbing, Stratford said that when she spoke to his dad "he told me that 70% of people are actually stabbed by their own knife and we followed that idea in the film".

She said: "We want to deter people from thinking that knifes are for safety and [say] that they shouldn't be carrying them."

The film will be shown alongside a short documentary featuring interviews with those involved in the project, including members of the Brindley family.

The premiere will take place at Aldridge Youth Theatre on Saturday at 16:00 BST, with local politicians and community figures expected to attend, including Wendy Morton MP and the Mayor of Walsall.

All proceeds from the screening will go towards supporting the work of The James Brindley Foundation, a charity helping young people to make positive life choices and stay away from offending.

Stratford said she hoped the film would spark conversations about knife crime and encourage young people to think about its consequences.

"We want to get the film to as wide an audience as possible and I want to be able to support the James Brindley Foundation as they've helped me work on it.

"The work that they do is phenomenal," the director said.

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