Essex is one of the safest counties in Britain.

Yet last year, several families faced the loss of a loved one as a result of a stabbing.

Even people who did not know the victims felt sadness for the families of victims Ricky Zephaniah, Ricky Wyatt, Jay Clarke, Clifton Robinson and Harpul Simon.

At least 100 crimes involving knives are committed every day in England and Wales. Some are just threats, others result in serious injuries, or death.

Perhaps most worrying is the number that involve schoolchildren - the number of youngsters caught carrying knives is alarmingly on the increase.

In a typical secondary school class, almost a third of children claim to have carried a knife, many claiming it is for self protection.

It is a worrying statistic, but work has now begun in Basildon to show youngsters the damage knives can do.

A new crime prevention initiative, has seen Year 7 and 8 pupils at James Hornsby High School, in Lenister Road, Laindon, visited by a mother who lost her son in a knife attack.

Colchester mum Ann Oakes-Odger, lost her 27-year-old son,Westley in September 2005. He was brutally stabbed at a cashpoint in Greenstead, Colchester.

He died moments after the blade ruptured an artery in his neck.

His mother now works as part of the Be Safe project which visits schools to warn youngsters of the dangers of the knife culture.

Ann Oakes-Odger had previously spoken in London schools. She lectured in Essex for the first time on Wednesday, presenting a mixtures of hard hitting facts and personal reflections on her own tragedy.

A hush fell over the children as she told her story.

"Westley was just a young lad, just like all you youngsters here, " she said.

"He had aspirations of what he was going to do as he went through life. He was stabbed in the neck. Many people were around him at the time, including an experienced first-aider, but his life couldn't be saved.

"Even if you get to hospital or even if somebody is close by with medical training, there are times when an injury, even with a short blade, can kill you."

She went on: "I looked at the situation with my son and thought how could I help stop another family feeling the pain of losing someone they loved or another young person from not having a future?

"All the things Westley talked about wanting to do in life are now not there for him, because of the single, thoughtless act by someone carrying a knife."

James Hornsby was the first Essex school to receive a Be Safe visit from the Be Safe presentation, but campaigners are keen to stress it was not being singled out as having a particular knife problem.

All the same, as Ann Oakes-Odger asked the children about their attitudes to carrying and using blades, it was clear most knew someone who carried a weapon.

One boy told the assembly: "Someone I know carries a knife to his school, in case someone stabs him."

The sometimes-shocking presentation aimed to make young people think twice about carrying a knife.

Graphic images of injuries - severed fingers, a slashed wrist and a head wound, which eventually claimed the life of its young female victim - helped reinforce the message.

It was hard for the audience to stomach but Mrs Oakes-Odger is confident her approach is the right one.

Speaking after the assembly, she explained: "If this results in somebody's life being saved and somebody's future not going down the wrong path, it's worth it."

PC Diane Murphy, safer schools officer at James Hornsby helped organise the event and echoed her sentiments.

She said: "Even some of the younger children at junior schools have become aware murders have happened in this area.

"By educating all of them, even the younger kids, they learn from what other people have gone through.

"And with regard to the murders in Laindon and Basildon, hopefully, they will feel they don't want that to happen again - no more murders."