Beckham: My friend was stabbed in the back and paralysed

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The England star said he wanted others to be spared the "devastation" he had witnessed as he joined team-mates and manager Fabio Capello in backing the Government's anti-knife campaign.

He described how the life of his unnamed friend - who was on the verge of signing a contract with Leyton Orient - was wrecked as he was stabbed in the back after intervening in a fight.

"No one wants to see the devastation I saw my friend and the family go through," said Beckham, 33, as he appeared alongside Rio Ferdinand, David James and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith at a press conference at England's team hotel in Hertfordshire. "You do not expect to take your kids to school in the morning and never see them again."

Beckham said his children "would not even think about" carrying a knife or weapon, but added: "It is unfortunate it is part of life, part of culture, these days and this is why we want to get involved. We want to make a change."

Today's appeal was designed to promote an anti-knife link on the Bebo social networking site and to emphasise to young people that carrying a knife increases their risk of being stabbed.

Ferdinand, 29, raised in Peckham, also urged teenagers to shun knives and described how the death of Stephen Lawrence, 18, in a stabbing in 1993 had shocked pupils at his school.

He said: "I will never forget the day that the headmaster brought the school to a halt and said Stephen was killed the night before. It was a crazy atmosphere in school, very sombre and chilling."

The England and Manchester United star suggested carrying a knife should be treated in the same way as possessing an unlicensed gun, for which there is a mandatory five-year jail term. "I think that would be a good start," he said.

Capello said he was pleased to see his players using their influence to help turn teenagers away from violence.

The players' involvement is the latest stage of the Government's Tackling Knives Action Programme, set up in June.

Ms Smith said that more than 55,000 people had since been stopped and searched with 2,500 arrests carried out for knife-related offences and 1,600 blades being seized.