A campaign to introduce blunt kitchen knives in a bid to stamp out knife crime has been met with a lukewarm response by the Sheffield chef community.
The ” Lets be blunt” campaign was launched by Leanne Lucus, a yoga teacher who survived the Southport attack in July 2024 where three children were killed with a kitchen knife.
The aim of the campaign is to replace sharp tip knives with the rounds tips as kitchen knives are not banned weapons and easily accessible.
Knife crime awareness week is a national movement to take meaningful action to prevent knife crime. The movement takes place this month from 18-24th May.
Leanne Lucus, 37, said: ” My goal is simple, to prevent other people and families from going through the devastating experience I have been through. I want rounded tip knives to become and social norm and we have seen ‘Lets be blunt’ grow into a national movement. “
But Sue Bennette, 60 years old, Office admin, Samuel Staniforth LTD, a Sheffield knife manufacturer, said: “The difference in those knives really depends on the use and what customers want it for. For example, if they need to fillet meat they would use sharp tip knives rather than round tip knives. But we make sure to ID our customers for safety purposes.”
Few chefs in Sheffield that have made comments, Ristan Abdustar, 35 years old, Piccolo Restaurant, said: ” As a restaurant we often deal with meat and our knives do not have round tips. We cut out steak here at the restaurant and so we require sharp tips to remove the fats. We understand the risk of sharp tip knives but it is necessary for our work.”
Aaron Smith, 26 years old, Copper Pot cafe, said: ” We just keep sharp tip knives in our kitchen but it does come with danger of cutting myself or mishaps happening in the kitchen when the knives are not properly handled.”
Zuleka Anan, 35 years old, sheffielder, said: “I prefer round tip knives as they are safer for every day use and reduced chances of accidental injuries. I also think ID verification while buying a knive is necessary to ensure they are sold to responsible and age appropriate groups.”
