Three bereaved mothers who despite having lost their child to knife crime-are incredible community heroes. – The Havering Daily

Why choosing to ignore the message these mums share could be a fatal mistake.

Six years ago I stood outside of an east London Town Hall and read the first email sent to me from a bereaved mother who had lost her son to knife crime. I actually remember silently wiping away tears as I got to the end of the email. I then received the second email from another bereaved mother and then a third, all in one day sharing their heartbreaking stories of how their sons were murdered on the streets of east London.

I defy anyone to read these three accounts, that clearly highlight just a fragment of the pain they felt when they learnt that their son had been murdered and not be moved.From that day forward, I knew that this wasn’t going to be just another story, but something that clearly had to be spotlighted. Yet, sadly here we are in 2023, and the only thing that has changed is the increase in fatalities.

These mums are some of the bravest women you will ever meet. Sue Hedges, Peguy Kato and Julie Taylor have all buried their children. They have all cried so many tears that their bodies cannot cry anymore. They have all shouted the same message about knife crime for years and have been repeatedly ignored by all.

There are times when we often feel sorry for ourselves and perhaps moan and groan at life, yet when you talk to these three incredible ladies, you realise just how lucky you are. They manage to have a smile on their face everyday despite a hole left in their heart, they manage to support and be there for their communities despite having that void and knowing their son will never walk through their door.

When Peguy was told her son Champion was dead, she thought the light had gone out of her world and the sun would never shine again. Julie wakes up and tells you that for that very split second as she is regaining consciousness from her sleep, she still thinks Liam (Fish) is alive, until reality kicks in and she comes to the brutal remembrance that he is gone. Sue had to make the horrendous decision of turning Ricky’s life support machine off and watching her son’s life fade away before her own eyes.

Nothing in this world will ever take their pain away. As Peguy tells you openly, killers receive sentences and are let out of jail, these mothers and their families are destined to life sentences as their pain never ceases. Yet despite all the anguish, these mums go through life campaigning to help our community against knife crime, donating vital life saving bleed kits and even as I write this, one mum is visiting another mum who recently lost her son to knife crime.

Their aim is to stop other children dying on the streets of London and other families to go through the pain they have and are going through. Yet despite their endless pleas to the community to stand united against knife crime, many do not and sit in silence.

They work with our youth, they work donating bleed kits that save lives. It was in fact thanks to Sue who donated a Daniel Baird bleed kit, that a student from a local college is still alive after being stabbed. They stand outside all key areas in London such as the Houses of Parliament, and still not one person acknowledges their voices and as we can see, knife crime rampages across all our communities.

Thanks to Keith Prince Havering and Redbridge GLA member, a Knife Crime Summit was held at City Hall several weeks ago where the London Mayor Sadiq Khan came and sat with the three mums and heard their pleas. He listened and offered his support which the mothers were grateful for.

I have stood with these three incredible ladies, all across London, I have laughed with them and watched them cry. They are broken women whose lives have been destroyed in one violent action. They have had to face their child’s killer in court, watch CCTV footage of the moments their child was murdered and know that they were not there to hold their son’s hand as they lay dying.

I have sat in court for the sentencing of some of these killers and have watched them smirk at the mums, show no remorse whatsoever and be ordered by the judge to stand up as he passed his sentence, as they had refused to stand.

These three mums give everything back to the community despite having lost what was dearest to them, their child. They ask for very little except for the community to stand together against knife crime, they beg and plead the community to unite against these horrors.

When you know of an event that you can attend and you can make your voice heard, please do not sit in silence, show your support against knife crime-you do not know how many lives you may well be saving.

Let us take a moment to remember

Ricky Hayden

Champion Ghanda

Liam (Fish) Taylor.

Gone but never forgotten.

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