KEITH Platt is the latest knife-crime victim in Bolton.

The brutal nature of his death has left members of the Farnworth community in shock.

Last night, bouquets of flowers marked the scene where he collapsed.

Mr Platt's death comes just four months after the killing of Rabid Amin, aged 25, who died after being stabbed 16 times during a row between two groups of men outside a take-away in Bradshawgate last November.

Others victims who have suffered at the hands of knife-wielding thugs include: l Four teenagers who were stabbed when they tried to protect a 10-year-old boy from a man wielding a knife in Glaister Lane, Breightmet, on Friday, January 12.

l A 15-year-old boy who suffered serious injuries when a knife was plunged in to his chest in St George's Road, Bolton, on Friday, December 8.

l Mubashar Khan, aged 23, who needed 46 stitches to his face after it was sliced from temple to lip with a cut throat razor in Rishton Lane, Great Lever, in March last year l John Fletcher, aged 23, who was lucky to be alive after he was slashed across the neck with a knife at Moor Lane Bus Station on October 21.

l Taxi driver Mohammed Nasir, who needed 20 stitches in his neck after being stabbed seven times in Westwood Close, Farnworth, in July by a teenaged drug addict.

One of Bolton's most senior, police officers, Supt Andy Durkin, said yesterday: "There is absolutely no justification for carrying knives."

Speaking after Mr Platt's death, he said any youngster who claims to carry a knife for protection is speaking "nonsense," adding that a blade can be equally as dangerous as a gun.

He said: "Knives are not like guns. While there's only one reason for carrying a gun, knives are used every day and are readily available.

"What the two share in common is that you can't use either, or even take them out of the house, with any certainty that you won't kill somebody because it is impossible to say what circumstances are going to present themselves.

"There's no reason to carry a knife unless you want to hurt somebody. They don't protect you and, in fact, if you choose to carry a knife, you are more likely to provoke someone to use one against yourself.

"When people carry knives, it starts a vicious circle and that is a culture we want to end."