'I think my mummy's dead and I couldn't save her'

Cher Maximen was described by loved ones as "fearless and adventurous"

"I think my mummy's dead".

Cher Maximen, a "bubbly, vivacious and creative" mother, was fatally stabbed with a zombie knife at Notting Hill Carnival while trying to protect her three-year-old daughter last year after a fight broke out between a group of men.

She was taken to hospital for emergency surgery but died six days later.

Her family spent hours agonising how to break the news to her daughter.

When they did, her response was that she "couldn't save her" to which they replied: "Of course you couldn't, you're only little".

When they picked her up from the hospital, the little girl was still wearing the silver shorts she had worn at Carnival.

The attack happened on what is known as family day.

On Friday, Shakeil Thibou, 20, from Kensington in west London, was jailed for life for Cher's murder and ordered to serve a minimum term of 29 years.

The day before he was sentenced, I spoke to TJ Jacobs, who is the godmother to Cher's daughter, at her home in King's Cross, along with Cher's grandmother Vyleen Maximen, who is now raising Cher's daughter.

A patchwork teddy bear, one of several special keepsakes created for Cher's loved ones, sat between them on the sofa, sewn together from fragments of her old clothes.

"We didn't want to keep all her stuff in bags," Ms Jacobs explained, pointing out one patch, from a dress Cher had worn when they went to watch Beyoncé together, and another from a T-shirt she remembered buying her when she was a teenager.

They had a teddy bear made up of Cher's favourite clothes

'I keep thinking she's on holiday'

"Her smile went from ear to ear," said Ms Jacobs.

Ms Maximen described her granddaughter as "fearless and adventurous", remembering how, one morning eight years ago, she'd disappeared during a trip to Barbados and returned explaining she'd met some local fishermen and was proudly showing off her catch.

"I just keep thinking she is on holiday," she said. "The hole in my heart will never be filled."

Ms Jacobs agreed. "It just doesn't make sense that someone full of life is gone."

Cher was described as a "devoted and protective mother"

She said that although Cher had experienced difficulties in her life, she had recently found happiness, moving into a beautiful new apartment, and starting up a fashion business, designing jewellery and clothing.

She described Cher as a devoted and protective mother, and that she died trying to shield her daughter.

"She wasn't trying to get involved in a fight," Ms Jacobs said, describing how a group of men had started fighting "with no regard" to others nearby, and how the knife had come very close to Cher's little girl.

"They fell on top of where the children were sitting," she said. "But those that were involved had no thought that a three year old has to live with the fact that, 'my mum died because my mum was saving my life'."

Cher was rushed to hospital for major surgery, but died six days later.

"When we sat down to ask, do you know what's happened to mummy, she said, 'I think my mummy's dead'."

'You would have liked her'

During the four-week trial held last month at the Old Bailey, Ms Jacobs said she had been struck by the details she'd heard from Thibou's defence team about challenges he had faced while growing up, and had reflected on how Cher herself would have been able to relate to those experiences, had he not taken her life.

"You almost want to grab them," she said, referring to the defendant, "and say, 'you would have had so much in common with her, you would have liked her, she would have stood up for you!'"

The family said they had also been saddened by the sight of other grieving families who had lost loved ones to violence who attended court each day, also hoping for justice.

Ms Jacobs said that she believed society had come "desensitised" to violence and that many young people felt "really small and powerless".

"We need to find a way, I guess, to instil hope and pride and positivity in young people that doesn't lead on to these other things," she said, calling for more youth clubs, job opportunities and mental health support.

'Carnival did not kill Cher'

Cher's murder led some to criticise safety at Notting Hill Carnival, but while her family share some of those concerns, Ms Jacobs said that cancelling the event would not stop knife crime.

She said she felt safety concerns over Carnival needed to be properly addressed, and called for a focus on prevention measures including better mental health support for young people.

"What we're saying is, we don't want anyone else to experience losing a loved one to knife crime. So it makes no sense to focus on Carnival, because we recognise that's not what killed Cher," she said.

Cher's family have said cancelling the event would do nothing to prevent violence from happening

Ms Maximen agreed, but said that although she had once really enjoyed attending the event, she did worry about safety, particularly over the large numbers of people on the streets.

"This is just my thoughts... I personally think it should be in a park, that's my opinion," she suggested.

"If the genuine opinion is, we all appreciate the value, the heritage, the importance of Carnival, then it deserves a conversation," added Ms Jacobs. "To really look at, how do we safeguard those who come here just to have a good time?"

She asked people to think of Cher's daughter in those discussions. "No one else's story is more important than that."

Ms Maximen said life now was about focusing on her great granddaughter.

"We laugh and dance every day. We talk about Cher every day.

"That's the only comfort I've got. That I've got her daughter to look after.

"I'll look after her to my last breath."