Their teen son was stabbed to death, now Brett and Belinda are stopping Perth parents from facing the same fate

3 hours ago 2

The parents who spearheaded Western Australia’s ‘anytime, anywhere’ knife wanding laws will soon take their message directly to Perth teenagers, as weapons-related crime in the community doubles.

Brett and Belinda Beasley’s son Jack was stabbed and killed on a night out on the Gold Coast in December 2019, and have since dedicated themselves to tougher knife laws and education campaigns across the country.

9News Perth revealed on Sunday that Western Australia would follow the Queensland and NSW governments’ leads and fund the couple to present workshops in 20 Perth schools.

“The messages are simple, and it is to live their life without a knife,” Brett Beasley told 9News Perth and WAtoday.

“The feedback we get is amazing. We get to one school, do a presentation, and 10 minutes [later] another one is ringing us, wanting us to come to their school.

“The teachers love it, the kids end up in tears. We don’t mean for that to happen, but because it’s such a moving presentation and even the teachers, they absolutely love it.”

The pair is likely to bring their lessons west in Term 2, 2026.

At one recent presentation to a Sydney school, Belinda told the teens she wanted to ‘prevent [Jack’s death] happening to another family.’

“Our aim is to educate the youth of today about the dangers, the repercussions and the snowball effect a single act of violence can have on so many people,” Belinda told the teenage crowd.

“We’re not here to tell you what’s right and what’s wrong, I’m sure you already know that. This is about making the right choices to prevent harm and trauma to yourselves and to others.”

Jack (second from right) with Mitch, mother Belinda and father Brett.

9News Perth and WAtoday first foreshadowed the Cook government would implement tough stop and search laws named Jack’s Law, in honour of the Beasley family, last year.

Police Commissioner Col Blanch revealed on Sunday that between 150 and 170 knives had been seized from the streets since Jack’s Law came into effect last December, and warned more would come during the summer months.

“Know that if you do bring a knife, you are going to be caught in our entertainment precincts and other places police are conducting these operations,” he said.

“Parents have given us strong feedback on letting their kids out to Northbridge at 18 years old, knowing that police are out there doing exactly that.

“When you take 150 to 170 weapons off the streets on young people, that’s 150 or 170 serious deaths or serious injuries that could’ve been prevented.”

Despite the current crackdown, the state has seen weapons-related crime surge in recent years, with the number of incidents where a person is, or pretends to be, armed with a dangerous weapon more than doubling since 2020-21.

Police Minister Reece Whitby said overall crime was down 17 per cent since the Labor government came to power in 2017.

However, opposition spokesperson Adam Hort hit back to say the state government had its head ‘buried in the sand’.

“Violent crime is at an all-time high,” he said.

“People in our streets are twice as likely, compared to just five years ago, to be threatened by a weapon. Now that is a very, very significant issue.”

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