Samantha Madgin's sister Carly backs knife crime campaign

Jun 5 2009 by Laura Caroe, The Journal

THE sister of a teenager stabbed to death is backing our campaign to raise awareness about knife-crime.

Carly Madgin has praised Northumbria Police, Creative Arts North and The Journal who have teamed-up to launch a songwriting competition to encourage youngsters to spread an anti-violence message among their peers.

We are asking young people in Tyne and Wear and Northumberland to compose entries for our No Knives No Excuses song-writing competition.

High on vodka and cocaine, Jordan Jobson stabbed Samantha Madgin to death in a Wallsend back alley. The 18-year-old, who had never met her killer before, was enjoying her first night out with friends since giving birth to son, Callum, 10 weeks earlier.

Jobson, of Walker, Newcastle, was found guilty of murder last year and sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in prison. But this was reduced to 12 years at an appeal hearing.

Carly, of High View, Wallsend, was just 16-years-old when she lost her beloved big sister in August 2007. She said: “I think this is a brilliant idea because music is a good way to get messages across to young people.

“Our family have been though hell and anything which can help to tell people that violence ruins people’s lives should be supported by everyone.

“People should not be carrying knives, there’s never any need to do it. We’ll never get over what happened to my sister and we have to take each day at a time.

“Violence on the streets needs to stop.”