Families of recent Scottish knife crime victims have joined together in a video message urging the government to take action. Neil McCrimmon, Lisa Petrie and Ashleigh Mullan have spoken about the trauma of losing their loved ones and called for change in how knife crime is addressed in Scotland.
Victims' stories
Ashleigh lost her 30-year-old brother Peter Mullan after he was fatally stabbed in Edinburgh in June 2023. Dylan Curran, 25, repeatedly knifed the young father and left him bleeding to death in front of his brother. Curran denied murder but was convicted after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in April last year.
Recalling her brother's death, Ashleigh said: "He was out drinking after work. He was in good spirits and was happy. In a split second, his life was gone." She added: "His death has been indescribable. We had to sit through a trial and watch him walk to his death."
Neil McCrimmon lost his 16-year-old son Kory McCrimmon after he was stabbed to death at Greenfield Park in Glasgow in May 2024. His killer, who was 13 at the time, was jailed for five years after admitting culpable homicide.
The father said: "I had to tell my 10-year-old daughter that her big brother was dead. You try to hold it together but you can’t, your heart has been ripped out."
Call for review
Lisa's son John McNab, 22, died after he was chased and stabbed in an unprovoked attack in Leith in September last year. The warehouse worker begged for his life but was stabbed four times with a hunting knife. His 17-year-old killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was on bail for a separate knife attack on Portobello Beach just months before. He was jailed for life at the High Court in Dundee in June.
Lisa said: "When you go from having two children to one, it's a massive loss. Being at the scene and being unable to get to John lives with me every day."
The families have banded together to demand the Scottish Government take control of the crisis. They have called for a review into why young people become involved in knife crime and how effective current programmes are at preventing it. They also want a review of controls around the sale of knives and for bleed kits to be more widely available.
Campaign context
Their calls come amid the Record's youth violence campaign, Our Kids ... Our Future, launched in February 2023 after reports of escalating attacks on children and young people. As part of the campaign, the Record has demanded the Scottish Government invest in safe spaces for young people, providing mentorship and guidance instead of leaving them on the streets. Over the past ten years, there has been a year-on-year increase in people convicted of possession of a blade in a public place in Scotland. For the last 20 years, sharp instruments have remained the most common weapon used in murder and culpable homicide cases.
Debbie Adams, director of development and external affairs at Victim Support Scotland, said: "Too many people are needlessly losing their lives to knife crime in Scotland. Ashleigh, Neil and Lisa have bravely shared their stories in the hope of changing attitudes to knife crime and preventing it from happening in the first place.
"They, and other families impacted by knife crime, are united in their determination that nobody else should have to experience the trauma and heartbreak of losing a loved one in this way. Swift and drastic action must be taken to support community initiatives throughout Scotland, to help prevent these crimes from occurring and reduce the likelihood of offending.
"This is why we are calling for a comprehensive review of knife crime and its root causes, a reassessment of knife sale controls, and national provision of bleed kits across Scotland. The Scottish Government must commit to decisive, concrete, evidence-based actions if we have any chance of preventing more people having their lives taken by knife crime."
The Record has approached the Scottish Government for comment.
