Marchers at the Green Man pub in Essex Road after walking from Hackney

THE families of victims killed in violent attacks took to the streets on Saturday to say “enough is enough”.

With their banners featuring the faces of loved ones they have lost, and searching statements such as “he had a family” and “I had a future”, campaigners marched from Bradstock Road in Hackney to the Green Man pub in Essex Road to raise awareness around how future tragedies can be prevented.

Michelle McPhillips, publican of the Green Man pub, organised the march as a response to the double stabbing in Archway last month of Leonardo Reid and Klevi Shekaj, on the 15th anniversary of the murder of schoolboy Ben Kinsella – another face looking out from a ­photo on a hand-held sign on Saturday.

Ms McPhillips used the march to amplify her call for businesses in Islington to join in with her campaign to have “bleed kits” available at locations across the borough.

The kits can save a life if someone has been stabbed or has been involved in an accident by stemming bleeding before paramedics arrive.

“People need to open their eyes a bit more in Islington. To be honest, I was ignorant, too, and thought it was a problem that happened to other people until it happened to me,” she said, describing how a reluctance to acknowledge the reality of knife crime in the borough was causing further families to lose loved ones.

Her son Jonathan “JJ” McPhillips, a 28-year-old father-of-two, was stabbed to death in Upper Street in 2017. To date, no one has been convicted of his killing.

Ms McPhillips has a number of bleed kits available for businesses to install outside their premises or keep in a bag on site, after Rise Up East, a Hackney-based charity, donated £2,500 to her campaign.

Photographs of victims of violence were held up

Calling on businesses to come forward – or anyone interested in joining the fight against violence – she said: “People who want to come and speak to me, or want to throw an idea past me, or anything at all that will help somebody else not have to walk in my shoes, [can come into my pub] – I’m all for it.”

Reflecting on a relatively small turnout on Saturday, which saw around 40 people marching, Ms McPhillips called for people to take to the streets and demand action if they wanted to see change, adding: “Don’t say that you care if you can’t come out and do something about it. There’s no point coming out after a murder, and going to a funeral, and saying that you cared and loved for that person – you need to come out and show you care all the time.

“And that’s what all of us grieving parents and siblings are doing by doing these things, because there’s no funding for this. [These bleed kits] are something that we feel very passionate towards.”

Hundreds of people who were galvanised in the wake of Ben’s death in 2008 took to the streets to call for change. Knife crime has exponentially gone up since then.

During the march, people shared ideas on what needs to change to prevent future tragedies.

Among them, Rodney “rebel leada” Panton said: “Young people need more support. I use the term ‘peer pressure’ – there’s too much going on for them, there’s too many distractions.”

Gary Heather, the Mayor of Islington, advocated for communities and police to work closer together.

He said: “There’s always been crime and disorder going back centuries, but there are certain ways you can make sure it doesn’t happen, and that’s where you involve the local community, and that means you’ve got a policing model where they’re truly in touch with the local community.”

Head of community policing, Superintendent Jack May-Robinson, has previously told the Tribune: “We’ve got the local action plan to deliver tangible action locally so people see that change.

“We’ve got a summer violence reduction plan, which is local authorities and ourselves working together, which is about preventing and minimising violence and helping those who are vulnerable.”