THE impact of knife crime was brought home to Halton by a powerful drama.

Chickenshed theatre company performed Crime of the Century at The Brindley on Friday for local schoolchildren.

This dynamic and explosive piece of dance threate was created in response to the tragic deaths of three teenagers associated with this London company, including Shaquille Smith, aged 14, the youngest victim of knife crime who died in 2008.

Pupils from Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy in Barnfield Avenue, Murdishaw, Runcorn, watched actors rehearse.

The compelling piece maps the journey to one fatal moment from a seemingly inconsequential spark to the most terrible of consequences.

Using words, movement and projection, alongside a contemporary score of hip-hop and dance music, the play is based on interviews with perpetrators, victims, families, surgeons, police officers and ex-offenders.