A LIVERPOOL nurse has launched his own battle against knife crime by showing schoolchildren the horrific injuries seen in hospital every week.

Rob Jackson, nurse clinician at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, has toured Merseyside schools with his frank and graphic presentation to make youngsters think twice about getting involved in violent crime.

He said the work, along with schemes carried out by Merseyside police, has meant fewer young people are coming into his A&E department with stab wounds.

Mr Jackson, who has worked at the Royal for 14 years, said: “You always hear about the tragic news when youngsters are killed, but the details of those who are seriously injured are not so well known. Lots of people are scarred for life, there are so many repercussions that can impact on lives forever.

“And this really hits home when they see those injuries for themselves.”

The classes first began with the youth offending service, but Mr Jackson admits he was sceptical at first: “I was asked to give these classes about the implications of knife crime and to be honest I didn’t think it would have any impact, but the effect was huge. You had these lads coming in with an attitude, and then they saw the photographs and listened to my stories and they were taken aback and went silent. It really hit home. Now we are aiming the talk to youngsters before they have set foot into that world, so they never do.

“And it is working. We still see a lot of knife injuries at the Royal, but it was higher a couple of years ago.”

The project is run in conjunction with Merseyside Police and the Youth Offending Service.