Blade found outside home of Ben Kinsella Exhibition

A member of the public yesterday found a knife hidden in a bush outside Finsbury Library – where the anti-knife crime Ben Kinsella Exhibition is housed.

Two police officers were seen inside the St John Street library’s reception area at about 3pm.

A Met spokesman said this morning: “A member of the public had found a blade in a bush near the library and took it inside for safekeeping until police arrived. We attended and collected the weapon.”

Patrick Green, spokesman for the Trust, told the Gazette this morning: “It’s shocking, and shows the vigilance needed around knife crime. That’s a very busy section of people walking to and fro. If knives are hidden in locations such as this, we need even greater efforts to reduce this.”

The library’s Ben Kinsella Exhibition, named after the 16-year-old who was brutally murdered in the Cally in 2008, educates children about the consequences of carrying knives. In July, a visit by Holloway’s Sacred Heart Primary School marked the 10,000th person to visit the exhibition since it opened in 2012.

The Ben Kinsella Trust also promoted a weapon sweep in May, where volunteers including Ben’s dad, George, found a flick knife in undergrowth at Rosemary Gardens.