‘My heart goes out to latest family torn apart’

Mum of son who survived attack tells of every parent’s worst nightmare

THE mother of a man stabbed three weeks ago in Kings Heath has said “she could cry” for the family of weekend Solihull knife attack victim Jack Donoghue.

Her own son had survived multiple stab wounds after being attacked in Highbury Park, even though he had to walk half a mile up Kings Heath High Street to get help.

That attack happened on Monday, November 11, but he only had his stitches out last Thursday.

“My son was lucky he didn’t die – it’s a terrible thing, it’s really shook him up,” said the grandmother of five, who only wanted to be known as Jackie.

But she immediately sent her thoughts to the family of 21-year-old Mr Donoghue, who died in Solihull on Saturday.

He became the latest victim of the city’s chronic knife epidemic when he was stabbed as he was about to head home after a night out in the town centre.

“Terrible, terrible,” Jackie said. “I could just cry for them. My heart goes out to them.”

Jackie went to Solihull, on Saturday to do some Christmas shopping and to try to relax after a traumatic month.

But, less than three weeks after her own son had nearly lost his life in Kings Heath, she had unwittingly found herself next to a murder scene just hours after Mr Donoghue had suffered fatal injuries in an attack reported to have happened at around 3am in Poplar Road.

“I think they need more police on the streets, it’s getting worse, it’s really bad and I hear it all the time,” said Jackie. “My son was lucky, he didn’t die, this is a terrible thing. He’s getting better now, but it’s really shook him up.

“He had the stitches out on Thursday, but I told him he’s got to be so careful. I told him that if he goes into Kings Heath again I’ll be with him because you never know what might happen again. He was lucky he wasn’t killed.”

Detectives investigating the killing in Solihull arrested a fifth man on Tuesday.

Two other men appeared before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and were remanded into custody.

Connor Moore, 20, from Weston Road, Lichfield, was charged with murder and violent disorder.

Regan Watters, aged 21, from Kitts

I think they need more police on the streets, it’s getting worse

Mum whose son survived a stabbing three weeks ago

Green Road, Stechford, was charged with murder, violent disorder and assault with intent to rob.

A 39-year-old man arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released pending further investigation, while a 23-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder was released on bail.

Police confirmed a fifth man has been arrested. He remains in police custody at time of going to press.

The news came hours after Jack’s devastated parents Anne and David paid tribute to their beloved son at a police press conference.

His heartbroken mum said: “The last thing he said to me was: ‘I’ll see you later mum, love you’ and he picked me up like a ballerina, twirled me round like he normally does. And off he went for a night out that he didn’t return home from.”

The night had started with a few games of pool with his family, including his grandad, cousin and his aunty and uncle.

Jack, 21, later met up with friends at nightclub Popworld on Poplar Road. But it was after the night out, just as he was on the phone about to set off home, when he suffered fatal injuries in the street. Dad David added that the family have had a huge amount of support from the community in Solihull, with food and buns cooked for them.

“The love we’ve got from the Solihull community has been amazing,” he said.

Paying tribute to his son, he added: “He was a big softie, you know. If he walked through that door now, everybody in this room would know he’d walked in, there’d be big smiles and fun and arms going up in the air. He was very popular.”