A CAMPAIGNER is calling for improved education and tougher sentencing on knife crime after a thug was convicted of murder.

Ann Oakes-Odger, 59, from Colchester, spoke out after Karl Wills, 22, was found guilty of stabbing to death Reynald Duchene, 37, after an open-air concert in Priory Park, Southend.

It has been revealed that Wills, of Cranley Road, Westcliff, had two previous knife convictions, for public possession in Leigh, in February 2007, and in London Road, Westcliff, in January 2009.

Mrs Oakes-Odger has campaigned for tougher sentences since her 27-year-old son Westley Odger was stabbed in the neck in Colchester in 2005.

She said: “It is not just a case of educating youngsters in the consequences of carrying a knife, but getting magistrates not to give a person a second chance if they are found carrying a knife. In this case he had previous convictions for carrying a knife.

“Having had this happen to us I know the family will feel a huge sense of relief, but they will still need support.

“When I first set up my campaign in 2007, one of the first things we tackled was increasing the minimum sentence from a tariff of 15 years to 25 years.

“We also focus on educating schools about knife crime.”

Mr Duchene, of Arlington Square, South Woodham Ferrers, was killed after the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Concert in the Park, Southend, on June 26.

He was knifed in the heart in front of his fiancee Paula Haddlesey, her children and friends. Mr Duchene was attacked after he stood up for his wife-to-be who was being pestered by Wills to hand over her picnic chairs. Wills will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on December 13.