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A British crime expert believes New Zealand can learn from the way the United Kingdom is tackling the growing problem of violent knife crime.
Last month the NZ government announced a package of measures to combat knife crime such as stiffer penalties for carrying a knife, education programmes and limiting the sale of knives through a voluntary agreement with retailers.
And UK experts say the country can avoid the senseless heartache by acting firmly and acting now.
Last year one person was stabbed to death every day and a half in the UK and a knife incident takes place there every 20 minutes.
"It's horrific. It's absolutely heartbreaking," Be Safe educator David Morris said.
Last year 275 people in the UK were stabbed to death and experts say the biggest problem is young people choosing to carry knives out of fear and ignorance.
"They're arming themselves because they think that's going to be the solution and unfortunately it very, very, very rarely is the solution," Morris said.
He has been running knife education programmes for 12 years and said most ordinary kids don't have it in them to stab someone.
"The reality then is the bad guys that they think they're protecting themselves from are likely to take it off them and use it against them," Morris said.
In Britain shops can't sell knives to anyone under 18 but a similar ban was rejected in New Zealand as being impractical.
"In all honesty the most likely knife that young kids gonna carry with them is something straight out of the kitchen drawer," Morris said.
Ann Oakes-Odger has successfully campaigned for stiffer penalties in the UK since her son was fatally stabbed five years ago.
The minimum time behind bars for a fatal stabbing has risen from 15 years to 25 years, while for those under 18 it's now 12 years.
"We've achieved a government focus on education and that specific change to the law," said Oakes-Odger, adding that strictly enforced penalties combined with well funded education programmes are essential to counter knife fatalities.
Morris said it's not effective to look for a short term solution and Britain still has a battle on its hands with children as young as nine carrying knives.
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