Real wounds feature in knife drive

One of the Home Office's shocking "viral" internet adverts shows a man with a Swiss army knife and a screwdriver sticking out of his chest.

Others show exposed intestines which have emerged from a knife wound, a leg which has become gangrenous after a knife attack and deep wounds to the bone.

The real images from a medical photo library appear as slides being used to illustrate a fictional medical lecture - accompanied by a script which was overseen by a trauma surgeon.

The two-minute scene is accompanied by a second viral advert depicting "CCTV" footage - performed by actors - of a knife stabbing on a shopping street.

Both sequences will be distributed through social networking websites such as Bebo and on mobile phones.

The hard-hitting ads feature in a campaign devised by teenagers for teenagers which aims to raise awareness of the devastating consequences of carrying a blade.

Two additional radio commercials describe the emotional impact of knife killings, and a hard-hitting promotional postcard depicts a hand mutilated by a knife attack.

Eighteen young people from across England and Wales took part in a creative summit in April to develop concepts for the series, and also acted in the radio adverts which are part of a £3 million campaign over the next three years.

One of the creative team, Khadijah Murchison, 18, from Bristol, said: "All the young people that went to the creative summit have been affected by knife crime, so to share our experiences with each other and come up with ideas and adverts that will help reduce knife crime was great. Hopefully, it will make a real difference."