Sadiq Khan knighthood is betrayal of knife crime victims… it’s a disgrace, says devastated step-mum of Jodie Chesney
THE stepmum of a schoolgirl who was stabbed to death says Labour has betrayed knife crime victims by giving Sadiq Khan a knighthood.
Girl scout Jodie Chesney, 17, was murdered in a London park in March 2019 by two thugs who mistook her for a rival gang member.
Now stepmum Joanne says the capital’s mayor — knighted in the New Year Honours for political and public service — is being rewarded for failure, with stabbings in the city rocketing in recent years.
Joanne, 42, said: “To give him a knighthood is an absolute joke.
“It not only makes a mockery of the entire system, it’s also a betrayal of knife crime victims and their families, like myself.
“My message to Khan would be, do the decent thing and turn down your knighthood until you have tackled knife crime in the capital.”
Just four months before her death in Harold Hill, East London, Jodie proudly posed outside the door of No10 Downing Street.
But now her stepmum claims Sir Sadiq “seems reluctant to talk about knife crime” and says he has refused to meet her.
Joanne, who raised Jodie from the age of six, said: “He seems intent on sweeping the entire issue under the carpet and pretending knife crime is not happening.
“But violence is spiralling in the capital and the victims keep on getting younger and younger.
“So for the London Mayor to fail to tackle it — or even make tackling it a priority — it is an utter disgrace and the government should not be rewarding him for failure.”
London’s knife crime has spiralled in recent years from 9,086 incidents in 2016 to 15,802 in the year to June 2024.
Last year’s figure was up 16 per cent on the previous 12 months.
Joanne, who now lives in Southend, added: “How many more stabbings and deaths do we need to see before this grabs the mayor’s attention?”
A spokes-person for the mayor said: “Thanks to record investment in the police, hard work of Met officers and London’s Violence Reduction Unit’s approach to tackling the causes of crime, the number of young people injured with knives is down since Sadiq became mayor.
“However, it’s clear violent crime remains far too high. Sadiq is determined to continue leading from the front to tackle crime and its complex causes to build a safer London for everyone.”
They claimed nothing was more important to the mayor than keeping Londoners safe.
Drug dealer Svenson Ong-a-Kwie, 19, and his runner Arron Isaacs, 17, were found guilty at the Old Bailey in November 2019 of murdering Jodie.
Both were given life sentences.