Vigil held for teenager, 15

Hundreds of youngsters staged a candlelit vigil in a touching tribute to Sheppey teenager Emre Huseyin on what would have been his 16th birthday.

They began filing through the gate at playing fields in Sheerness after school last Thursday as dusk fell.

Organisers spelled out his name and created a giant heart with 1,000 tea-lights on the grass. Others flooded a nearby wall with a never-ending line of floral tributes. One included a drawing of the Oasis Academy pupil, pictured right.

Many staff from the school were also present including Paul Murray and principal Tina Lee. She said: “The pupils organised this all themselves. They did a marvellous job.” Mr Murray said: “Emre was a lovely young man who we will miss so much. Our students did him so proud this evening with their own wonderful vigil.” Emre’s distraught father Yusuf Sakaryali was also present to witness the outpouring of grief for his son, who died at his home home in Sheerness on Saturday, February 1.

At one stage the crowd burst into a spontaneous Happy Birthday song for their missing friend.

Emre’s funeral is due to be held in Cyprus tomorrow (Friday).

There was an evening service to celebrate Emre’s life at the Minster campus of the Oasis Academy on Tuesday.

It was led by the Rev Steve Chalke, the founder of the Oasis Community Learning which runs the secondary school. Meanwhile, a teenager has appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court following Emre’s death. The 17-year-old boy from Sidcup has been charged with supplying MDMA and threatening a person with a knife in an unrelated incident on the Island.