Taunton Knife Angel sculpture's hidden meaning revealed

In the snap taken at night time by reader Quinton Vidal-Taylor, the angel appears to be guarding or comforting the silhouette of a young person.

After taking the photo, Quinton said: "Night photo of the Knife Angel where you can clearly see the outline of the child the angel is guarding."A better look at Quinton's photo of the Knife Angel at night. (Image: Quinton Vidal-Taylor)

The sculpture, made up of 100,000 knives and blades retrieved from police amnesty bins, was officially unveiled in Taunton town centre on Wednesday, April 3.

It aims to raise awareness of the negative effects of violence and aggression, and will be outside the Market House until the end of April.

The 27-foot sculpture has been validated by the Home Office as the National Monument Against Violence and Aggression and is on a nationwide tour.

Emma Webber, the mother of 19-year-old Barnaby from Taunton, who was stabbed in Nottingham in the early hours of June 13 as he walked home with his friend Grace O'Malley-Kumar, spoke at the civic ceremony when the statue was first unveiled.

Mrs Webber said: “Barnaby Philip John Webber was a Taunton boy. Despite being born in the Mary Stanley unit in Bridgwater – a fact he hated – he spent all of his life at our home on the outskirts of this town.

“He went to nursery here, he went to school here, he learned to drive here, he played cricket here, he had his first job here and even his first serious girlfriend.

“We were so proud of him and so delighted that he’d found a university course he enjoyed in a new city he loved and the chance to make loads of new friends.

“His life was lost, his future was stolen and, alongside that, our hearts and souls as a family were broken by a senseless, cruel, premeditated knife attack at 4.04am on Tuesday, June 12, 2023 – why?”