Brian Paddick and Duwayne Brooks Meet With Young People At The Ministry Of Sound To Discuss Gun and Knife Crime

1.11.23pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 25th Feb 2008

Last week, Liberal Democrat London Mayoral Candidate Brian Paddick met with young people from all over London to discuss the problems surrounding gun and knife crime at an event organised by the UK Youth Parliament.

Joining Brian Paddick at the event on Thursday was Duwayne Brooks, the young man who was with Stephen Lawrence on the night he was stabbed to death in 1993. The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry fundamentally changed the way the police handle race crime.

After giving a brief speech and answering questions from the audience, Brian Paddick stayed on for over an hour at the event to speak to teenagers on a one-to-one basis.

Commenting after the events, Brian Paddick said:

"This is the second event in as many weeks to discuss gun and knife crime where the Mayor has failed to attend and Boris Johnson has left the event without hearing what young people have to say.

"It is important that we listen to our young people. They are the ones having to deal with the realities of gun and knife crime on the streets of London every day and they have important things to say about how to tackle the problem."

Youth worker Charmaine Walters who was also at the event added:

"These young people are striving for better lives, and it's really important that people like Brian are around to listen to them."