Knife crime campaigner Leeann White is calling for the new police powers brought in to tackle adult knife crime to be equally applied to younger offenders — right down to the age of 12.

The mother of Ava White, the 12-year-old girl who was stabbed to death in Liverpool 17 months ago in an act that shocked the nation, has said she generally welcomes a trial programme that lets police stop and search adults over 18 who have previously been convicted of carrying bladed or offensive weapons but wants it to equally apply to younger offenders.

“I think it should be brought down to 12,” she told Sky News. “There are children as young as 12 carrying knives.

“Ava’s murderer was just 14. And maybe if these powers had been introduced earlier then the knife that killed her could have been taken off the streets.”

Merseyside is joining Thames Valley, West Midlands and Sussex police forces in a scheme piloting the use of serious violence reduction orders (SVROs) that can be placed upon adults already convicted of an offence involving a bladed or offensive weapon.

The special stop and search powers has become a contentious issue, with their use and abuse often coming under attack from politicians, civil liberty campaigners and the public.

One representative of the human rights campaign group Liberty has been quoted as saying that a stop and search action “is incredibly traumatic and harmful.”

They added: “It’s incredibly humiliating and ultimately it’s not effective. Why do we invest so much in a tool that we know alienates young people? It causes distrust, and doesn’t do anything positive to make our communities safer and more thriving.”

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But Merseyside Police’s lead for serious violence and knife crime, Superintendent Phil Mullally, told Sky: “There is still work to do. These new powers will enable us to continue to drive down knife crime and reoffending. They will enable a more proactive approach for repeat offenders and will help us protect those most vulnerable from being drawn into further exploitation by criminal gangs.”

But Ms White said she wanted the power to go further. Her daughter’s killer, who cannot be named because of his age, was jailed for 13 years for murder after a jury dismissed his claim of self-defence.

She said: “I would rather have my child searched than my child be murdered. Personally I think they should be done as young as 12 – we know 12-year-olds are committing murders, we know 12-year-olds are being arrested with bladed articles.”

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