'Actions have Consequences' workshops delivered during Operation Sceptre Week of Action

The National Offender Management Service event, Actions Have Consequences, was delivered to pupils at schools across Manchester during Operation Sceptre’s week of action by a Her Majesty's Prison (HMP) officer, Paul McGovern MBE.

Prison Officer Paul McGovern MBE, from HMP Manchester, works within the Prison Community Team which engages with children in local schools to break the cycle of children being peer pressured into local crime gangs and subsequently being imprisoned when they are adults.

The aim of the Actions Have Consequences programme is to break down barriers between local children, their teachers, local neighbourhood policing teams, school-based officers and the youth offending team.

During the week, Paul has spoken to more than 1,800 children in several primary schools and high schools across Greater Manchester, and also delivered sessions to GMP’s police cadets. Paul attended Cheadle High School, Laurus Cheadle Hulme, Royton and Crompton Academy and Godley Community Academy Primary.

School engagement officers and area neighbourhood PCSOs joined Paul to help deliver his workshops and youngsters were able to ask officers questions about their roles.

Paul McGovern MBE said: “It has been a fantastic week. Because it has been Op Sceptre we have focused on knife crime sessions this week, all done in a fun and informative way.

“Thank you to every school who has looked after us and has been very courteous.

“At the start of the morning, all the children put their hands up to say they were scared of the police, by the end of the day not one hand was up. That’s what this is all about, to break down the barriers.”

Detective Inspector Roger Edwards, from GMP’s Force Violence Reduction, added: “Paul’s sessions are vital to preventing knife crime and focusing on younger people helps aid their education around the consequences of carrying a knife.

“Paul continues to do fantastic work in teaching our young people the important issue of knife crime across the whole of Greater Manchester.”