STUDENTS across Harrow were shown a play about knife crime over the last two weeks.

It's Not a Joke toured a series of secondary schools across the borough, teaching young people how knives can destroy the lives of those who carry them.

Rushanne Dryden, 14, saw the performance at TCS Tutorial College, a pupil referral unit, for students with behavioural problems, in Palmerstone Road, Wealdstone.

He said: “The play was good. It helped the younger ones follow the good footsteps not the bad ones. I think it will help younger people.”

The play uses comedy to tell the story of a boy, Rufus, who starts carrying a knife because that is what he feels people in his area do.

But after hanging around with a gang of older boys he gets drawn into a criminal act which ends in tragic consequences.

Daniel Cole, 22, of Edmonton, who plays Rufus, said: “Because I came from an area that was populated by knife crime it's a problem that I've always been around.

“It's something that's close to home for me. No one ever came and did this sort of stuff for us so I thought it's a good project and something positive to show to the kids.”

Sylvia Rattray, a Harrow Police safer schools officer, helped organise the event as part of efforts to tackle violent crime in the borough.

She said: “Having this comedy show is such a good opportunity because they don't always get the chance to see anything like this.

“Rather than lecture them we thought it was a different way of getting the message across.”

Headteacher Dr Roselle Antoine said the play showed pupils that the police have a “human face”.

She told the Harrow Times inviting officers into the school was part of efforts to get students interacting with the community, which is at the heart of her vision.

She said: “We must respect young people and believe that they can and do have a vision for Britain that is positive. That's the crux of the matter in this country.”