ARTIST Katy Dawe has won an award or her work highlighting knife crime after her friend Oli Hemsley was left paralysed after a vicious attack by a gang in Shoreditch. The pair became friends at Central St Martin s Art College and talented artist Oli was a

ARTIST Katy Dawe has won an award or her work highlighting knife crime after her friend Oli Hemsley was left paralysed after a vicious attack by a gang in Shoreditch.

The pair became friends at Central St Martin's Art College and talented artist Oli was attacked in August 2008.

Oli spent 134 days in intensive care and was left paralysed by the attack, needing medical care for the rest of his life.

His friend Katy, 22, who lives in Hackney Road set up Art Against Knives to draw attention to the damage knife crime causes to people's lives and she persuaded artists including Anthony Gormley and Giles Deacon to loan work to an exhibition at Shoreditch town hall which raised �60,000.

ArtAgainstKnives is raising money for Oliver's care and pop star Will Young and Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe pledged their continued support for the cause.

Katy has won the arts category of the Young Achiever award for her outstanding contribution to knife crime awareness and will be presented with a �1,000 cheque at a ceremony in London next month.

Her aunt Fiona Dawe who nominated her for the Young Achievers Trust awards said: "Katy, Oliver and Alice have without any previous experience,created something special and have leaned a huge amount about dealing with a tragic event in such a creative and positive way - and the ripple-effect is having a big impact.