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Potter actor's death inspires shocking film against stabbings
Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard19 Aug 2008
A group of young people horrified by the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old actor Robert Knox are in the running for a Prince's Trust award for their film about knife crime.
The DVD contains shocking stills of wounds inflicted by a samurai sword and a boy whose cheek had been split open in a knife attack. There are also pictures of grieving families at murder scenes.
Using the latest statistics, the filmmakers calculated a knife crime is committed every 24 minutes in Britain.
The students, who completed the project during a Prince's Trust course in Northfleet, near Dartford, hope its content will make other young people think twice about carrying knives. Tom Shovlar, who came up with the idea, said: "We used graphic images as it's the way to hit home. People need to know what will happen if they use a knife."
The 22-year-old, from Gravesend, said his brother James, 19, was friends with Rob Knox, who had a small part in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince and was killed in Sidcup in May. "I couldn't believe Rob got killed. I thought something needs to be done," he added.
The production team raised £900 to make Stop Knife Crime by packing shoppers' bags at Bluewater, where Rob once worked. The DVD will be posted on YouTube and distributed to schools.
Richard Martin, of The Prince's Trust, said: "It's a superb film. For young people who have no experience of making a film, to do this in a few days is quite an achievement."
The team has been nominated for a Prince's Trust community impact award, to be decided in autumn.
