View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
June 20, 2012

Burton Mail claims first in knife-crime campaign

By James Read

Midlands daily The Burton Mail is claiming a first after its anti-knife crime campaign resulted in the purchase of a new metal detecting scanner to check customers entering local nightspots.

The ‘Safer Burton’campaign was launched in response to the fatal stabbing of 21-year-old Connor Upton outside a nightclub in 2010.

The Mail believes the purchase of the £3,000 device makes Burton one of the first towns in the country to have a dedicated mobile scanner which can be used at any of its venues.

The young daughters of Upton helped the paper unveil the detector, which editor Kevin Booth said was a significant development for the Safer Burton steering committee, which is chaired by Booth and includes campaign reporter Katie Bowler.

Upton’s mother Yvonne also sits on the committee and believes her son would still be alive had Burton possessed one of the knife-detecting archways when he was fatally stabbed.

Booth said: ‘The launch is a big milestone for us after months of hard work behind the scenes.

‘We believe buying the scanner will save lives and makes Burton one of – if not the first – town to have a device owned by the community rather than individual businesses. The plan is to raise funds for more.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Burton MP Andrew Griffiths said: ‘The scanner symbolises how seriously we take safety in Burton. I’m sure lives will be saved as a result of it.”

Upton’s fiancee Leanne Bird, the mother of the couple’s daughters Destynne and Kirstynne, took them along to the launch at Burton and South Derbyshire College this week.

Students at the college have backed the campaign by designing posters for distribution to town centre pubs and clubs, and a logo which has been printed on special ‘Safer Burton’ T-shirts.

Cash for the scanner came from the Staffordshire Local Community Fund and Burton’s Joint Operations Group, headed by East Staffordshire Borough Council.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network