Victim’s mum cannot grieve
TWO YEARS WITHOUT JUSTICE FOR JOSH
THE mother of Josh Hanson keeps a partially eaten dessert she shared with her son the night before his murder, she revealed on the twoyear anniversary of his death.
Tracey Hanson also said that she yet to start fully grieving over the death of the 21-year-old, who was stabbed in the neck at a bar in Eastcote.
Her comments came as police upped the reward for information on Shane O’Brien – the man wanted for the unprovoked murder – to £50,000 and released a new image of the suspect.
Josh was stabbed in an unprovoked attack at the RE Bar in Field End Road in the early hours of October 11 2015.
On the Friday night before, he had spent the evening at his home in Kingsbury, where he and his mother had tucked into a large chocolate pudding. She has frozen the dessert, with spoon marks still visible, as a reminder of her son.
Since the tragedy, the mum has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and panic disorder and has been unable to continue running her beauty therapy business.
So she has turned her fight for justice into a near full-time job, setting up the The Josh Hanson Charitable Trust and lobbying politicians.
She said: “One day the full-on grieving process will start. Until we’ve had our day in court, this man is taken off of the streets and can harm no one else, I’m not ready to grieve yet. I need to save my energy.
She described her son as “kind and loving” and said he had plans to go backpacking in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The charity set up in Josh’s name helps divert young people away from crime and has raised nearly £40,000 towards opening a community coffee shop.
Ms Hanson said parents had a duty to find out what their children were up to and urged mums and dads to hug their kids, send them messages and “spend as much time with them as you can, even if they don’t want you to. Because some people can’t do that”.
Ms Hanson called for increased funding and facilities for young people, tougher prison sentences and support for victims and their families.
Along the way she’s held discussions with the Mayor of London, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Victim Commissioner and her MP.
Battling her emotions, she said: “Through me, I’m giving him [Josh] a voice and highlighting his legacy.
“He should be here. Getting a conviction is the very least he deserves. “I’ve always fought for my kids and championed their corners and I’m not going to fail Josh now.”
Asked what Josh would say if he could see his mother now, she says: “I think he’d say keep doing what you’re doing and try and help as many people as you can. He’d probably say ‘thanks for keeping me out there and thanks for letting everyone still see me’.
“If someone were to turn around and say, ‘I was going to carry a knife but the Josh Hanson Charitable Trust helped me’, then I want to help them.
“By me showing them the right way, they might in turn help someone else.
“If we all work together we can make a change.”
Police say that O’Brien, from Ladbroke Grove, was arrested in Prague earlier this year but released on bail after providing police with false documents.
Anyone with information about O’Brien can call the police incident room on 020 8785 8099 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.