Families to gather in Essex to remember victims of violent crime

Liam will not be forgotten, his grandmother said

Families who have lost loved ones to violent crimes are coming together to remember them in an angel walk.

Organiser Julie Taylor, whose grandson Liam Taylor, 19, was killed in 2020, says the walk in Chelmsford will shine a light on the ripple effects of violent crime.

About 19 families are due to take part.

'We can't let these kids be forgotten because there could be more," Mrs Taylor said.

All the families taking part in the walk from St Mary's Church, in Great Baddow, to Chelmsford Cathedral are at different stages of their grief but their "pain is the same", Mrs Taylor said.

The walk is due to begin at 17:30 BST and will culminate with a memorial service where pictures of their loved ones will be on display.

Mrs Taylor said: "All this has got to stop. No-one else's family should have to suffer like ours.

"We meet because of our losses but a few of us who do rallies and walks, that's what binds us together.

"Once court cases finish, you're another statistic, there's nothing for us, so we have to support each other and we all look after each other."

Olly Stephens' mum Amanda says the families will "walk in solidarity"

Amanda Stephens' son Olly was 13 when he was lured to a field in Reading and stabbed.

Following his death, she reached out to Mrs Taylor and other families who have lost loved ones to knife crime but Saturday's walk will be the first time they have met in person.

She said: "It's a chance to show our children, whether through their face on a T-shirt or by carrying their photo, and to walk together in solidarity.

"To have the service in the cathedral will be very poignant and special."

Ricky Hayden was stabbed outside his home in Chadwell Heath

Since her grandson's death, Mrs Taylor has campaigned against knife crime and has become close to other bereaved families including Suzanne Hayden and Lynne Baird whose sons were killed.

Ricky Hayden was murdered outside his London home in 2016 and his mother says "the pain never goes away".

Ms Hayden said: "We are getting our point across, we are here, our children died, they are not just statistics, they have got names."

Daniel Baird was stabbed outside a pub in Birmingham and his mother says there is still a stigma attached to violent crime victims

Mrs Baird, who campaigns for bleed control kits to be rolled out following her son Daniel's death in Birmingham in 2017, hopes these walks can help end stigmas.

"There's still stigma around murder which I find people ask 'what was he doing'?

"They seem to think in some way Dan seemed to deserve it. There's a stigma; [victims] must have been drinking or if it's a girl that she was walking somewhere dangerous on her own etc. It really gets me mad. No-one deserves it."