IT was shocking to hear that a first year student had been stabbed on Cowley Road last week.

Mary Jane Sareva, until last May, a fellow Green c ouncillor in St Clements, had spoken at our area committee of her concern that knife crime might be a new threat in Cowley and that we should be seeking to prevent it happening in our wards in the lower Cowley Road area.

Mary Jane was conscientious in working with the police and the community to stop violent crime being a feature of our area. She had her ear to the ground when it came to the night-time economy.

We very much miss her input in the area as well as on the licensing committees both for premises and for taxis.

She was firm, fair and well informed.

It is ironic that she lost her seat here because of the massive influx of students voting for Lib Dems and their promise to abolish student tuition fees. But let’s hope she can put her experience to good use in Barton where she is standing as a local candidate as she also knows Barton well from her time there.

Meanwhile, the remaining councillors in East Oxford will work hard with the police to look at the background to this crime and make sure that people feel safe at our end of Cowley Road again.

We will be pressing for a draw-back of licensing hours or, if that is not possible, a late night tariff on licensed premises that will pay for the extra policing needed in the early hours.

Nuala Young, Tree Lane, Oxford