RORY Campbell remembers growing up in Blackbird Leys when almost everyone he knew carried a knife.

Now the 26-year-old is one of eight young people taking part in a documentary putting the issue of knives and urban crime on Oxford’s largest estate under the spotlight.

Later this month film-makers begin shooting the hour-long programme, which also focuses on Reading, before distributing it to potential buyers.

It comes just two weeks after a 16-year-old was stabbed repeatedly in the buttocks and legs outside Blackbird Leys Community Centre.

Last night, Mr Campbell – who recently helped lead a project teaching children about the dangers of knives – warned that more people than ever were carrying knives in Blackbird Leys.

He said: “We are in a community where it’s a problem.

“There was the incident that happened the other week at the community centre, and most of us have had some sort of encounter with knives and knife crime.

“Growing up, pretty much everyone I knew was carrying a weapon or a knife in Blackbird Leys and I don’t really know why. I suppose most people would say it’s self defence.

“It’s for status and it’s also the fear that someone else has got one. It became normal and that’s the bad thing.

“It was Swiss Army knives, knives from the kitchen drawer, those hammers you get in buses to break the windows, screwdrivers, anything really.”

The film is being financed by the Government-funded Mediabox initiative, which gives disadvantaged 13- to 19-year-olds an opportunity to develop and produce creative media projects using film, television, print, radio or online platforms.

Young people, residents, and local police will be interviewed about the problem of knives and drugs.

Mr Campbell, of Mole Place, Greater Leys, has already taken part in a 10-minute documentary on urban crime alongside members of Blackbird Leys music group The G Block Family.

He said that since he was a teenager, knife crime had escalated.

He added: “I’m sorry to say it has probably got more popular, more people are carrying them now.

“It’s just what I’ve picked up around the estate and heard what people are talking about.

“It makes me disappointed that people can’t see another way of dealing with their problems and being more positive.

“We hope the film raises awareness of knife crime and makes people think about it. A violence-free estate would be a nice thing.”

Another 17-year-old said the knife problem was everywhere, not just in Blackbird Leys. He too knew people who carried knives.

He said: “I’ve been in groups and there have been people pulling out knives on my friends.

“I think kids carry knives nowadays because they want to be in a crowd and if you don’t have a knife you’re not cool. It’s peer pressure.”

Anthony Barrett, 31, of Pottery Piece, Greater Leys, said children as young as 13 carried knives in Blackbird Leys, adding: “Some of the youngsters don’t realise how dangerous a knife really is.”