Murdered teen's dad calls youth club cuts a scandal

The father of Kiyan Prince, the teenager who was stabbed to death outside his school 20 years ago, says it is a "scandal" that so many youth clubs have closed.

The 15-year-old footballer for Queens Park Rangers' youth team was killed by Hannad Hasan when he intervened in a mock fight outside the London Academy in Edgware, north-west London, in May 2006.

Dr Mark Prince OBE, the founder and chief executive of the Kiyan Prince Foundation, urged the government to provide more support to young people who feel "held back by a society which sees them as the problem".

The government said it was "fighting to stop dangerous knives destroying young lives".

Launching The Champions' Club campaign on the 20th anniversary of Kiyan's death, the Kiyan Prince Foundation called for youth workers to be put "on the same level" as teachers, adding that their value is "overlooked and underfunded".

Prince said: "My son Kiyan was a winner because he had the courage to be himself and follow his dreams but today, not enough young people feel that way.

"They're held back by a society which sees them as a problem, rather than a generation with potential."

"Youth clubs play a huge role in building a winning mentality for young people but the number of them has declined rapidly in the past 15 years and that's a scandal," he added.

"Through our new campaign, we're calling for more investment into youth services and want to create our own space, carrying Kiyan's name, that helps young people feel like winners again."

Prince told BBC Radio London's Eddie Nestor that too much money and effort was being spent on criminalising young people rather than helping them.

"How are pupil referral units at schools different than the prison system?

"You have a child that isn't abiding by the rules, so you put him in isolation.

"You have a prisoner who's not doing right in the prison, so what do you do? Put him in isolation.

"[Whether it's] isolation or detention, you're wasting your time. You're better off building a relationship with that child.

"Too much money is being spent on punishment instead of helping those who are hurting."

The aim of Champions Club, Prince added, was to "sit down" with young people, "find out what's going on, get to the heart of the matter" and support them.

A government spokesperson said: "Kiyan's life was taken in an appalling, senseless act of violence. Our thoughts are with his loved ones on this anniversary."

They said under the current government, knife crime had fallen 8% "with more than 63,000 knives removed from our streets".

Last August, Sir Keir Starmer announced an expansion of youth services which included the promise of £30.5m to improve youth club infrastructure in areas with the highest levels of child poverty.

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