A MOTHER who has led a campaign against knife crime following the murder of her son has renewed her call for stiffer sentences for people carrying the weapons.

Barbara Dunne spoke out after a teenager was stabbed to death in Newcastle yesterday - 13 days after another youth was fatally stabbed in the city.

The latest victim, named locally as basketball player Shane Jackson, 15, was picked on at school and by youths in the area because of the state of his home, according to a friend.

Newly-elected to Middlesborough Borough Council, Mrs Dunne, who helped fund Mothers Against Knives after her son, Robert, was killed in a samurai sword attack four years ago, said: "It is not getting any better. The Government is saying crime is down. I don't know who they are kidding - especially knife crime.

"There should be a minimum sentence of five years for carrying a knife and they want proper sentencing for murder when stabbing is involved."

Last night, a 16-year-old youth was being quizzed on suspicion of Shane's murder.

Police found his body after being called to a flat in Hallow Drive, Throckley, Newcastle, shortly after 2am.

Northumbria Police said the victim was not being formally identified yet, but neighbours said it was Shane andthat he lived with his mother, Debbie Jackson, 40, in a block of six flats in Hallow Drive.

Shane, who was about 6ft and well-built, attended a local secondary school and had an elder brother, called Wayne.

Friend Adelle Carver, 16, said she had known Shane since she was 11. Adelle, who was at school with Shane until she left last summer, said he had been bullied.

"At school he was picked on because of the state of his house," she said. "They all carry knives here. They show off with them. They will pull them out as you walk past and say 'what do you think of that'."

The incident follows the death of Mark Smith, 16, in nearby Benwell, on the evening of May 2 as he walked home. A 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has appeared at Newcastle Youth Court charged with Mark's murder.