‘It’s like the person who killed Tommy is laughing at us’
HEARTBROKEN FAMILY IN NEW APPEAL, THREE YEARS AFTER TEENAGER’S DEATH
TOMMY Bilton never lived to see his twenties. Days after his 19th birthday, he was dead – fatally knifed in an Oldham street.
That was three years ago, but despite a criminal trial, his family still don’t know who was responsible.
Tommy’s brother, Kyle Bilton, 27, visits Tommy’s grave every day. He spoke to the M.E.N. of his anguish – and of his hope the case might one day be solved – on the anniversary of the tragedy.
“It feels like your heart has been ripped out to be honest”, Kyle said. “Every day you wake up and it’s there. Like it has just happened. There is no escape until we see justice. I can’t grieve properly yet, we just feel anger, and let down by the system.”
Tommy had gone out to celebrate his birthday on August 15, 2015, the night he was killed.
He was present when violence broke out outside another celebration – a house party on Oldham’s Eldon Street estate.
He was found collapsed in the street, having been stabbed in the groin. A number of people have been convicted of taking part in the violence that night. But no-one has been found guilty of the fatal attack on Tommy.
In 2016 Matthew Stubbs, 24, of Horsedge Road, Oldham, was found guilty of GBH with intent, after stabbing Tommy’s friend, Simon Dalton, 24, in the back. But he was cleared of murdering Tommy.
Two other men, who admitted affray, were sentenced for taking part in the same brawl – but a judge concluded neither had anything to do with Tommy’s death.
“It is an awful, sickening feeling, that the person who killed Tommy is still out there, it is like they are laughing in your face”, Kyle said.
“All those people that were at that party, and they won’t say anything. Every day I speak to my mum, and every day all she speaks about is Tommy. She is trapped and traumatised by it, like I am.”
Kyle was at Tommy’s hospital bedside when he died.
As well as Kyle, Tommy left behind two other brothers, Johnathon, 32, and Corran, 20, and sister Holly, 30, mum Mandy, and father, John.
“Tommy never seemed to let anything get him down. He was always laughing. He was down to earth.
“He had never been in prison or convicted for serious violence”, Kyle added.
Tommy was laid to rest in a plot with his late grandfather at Hollinwood Cemetery.
Kyle said: “I visit the grave every single day, as does my mum. There is a candle lit there each day. It keeps us going.
“It feels like we are victims too. When someone stuck a knife in Tommy it feels like they put it in us as well.”
GMP have told the family that with ‘fresh evidence’ they will review the case again.
Last year Tommy’s family offered a £10,000 reward to find crucial witnesses to the killing. It is still available – it is the lion’s share of a criminal compensation payment they received.
The payment – which is paid out by the government to blameless victims of violent crime – is regarded by Tommy’s family as ‘blood money,’ so they want it put to a good use.
Kyle’s plea to those in the know is simple.
“Tommy had a life”, he said. “He had plans for the future. He had talked of joining the Army. He never had that chance.
“People who know what happened should do the right thing – what if it was their brother, their son?”
Det Sgt Guy Laycock, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “A team of detectives worked for several months to investigate Tommy’s death which resulted in a murder trial taking place where all the available evidence was presented to a jury.
“As the conclusion of this trial, three men were convicted of affray, with one of those also found guilty of section 18 assault but found not guilty of Tommy’s murder.
“Our thoughts remain with Tommy’s family as they continue to try to cope with their loss.”