MUM RELIVES HER PAIN OVER TRAGIC SON’S STABBING
THE mother of a 15-year-old boy stabbed to death in Manchester has bravely opened up about her ‘journey through grief, mourning, sorrow, heartbreak and madness’ to raise awareness of knife crime and support other families.
Rachel Webb spoke out as a new study found a fifth of criminals convicted or cautioned for knife offences in Greater Manchester were children.
Her son, Kyron Webb, was murdered in Moston last October after what was described in court as an ‘inconsequential argument’.
An 18-year-old boy was detained for at least 15 years after he admitted murder and a 17-year-old boy, 16 at the time, was detained for five years for manslaughter.
Mrs Webb, 41, has revealed to the M.E.N. the harrowing contents of a personal diary she kept after Kyron’s death – entries which will form a novel titled ‘Goodbye Joy, Hello Madness’.
She also chronicled her experiences in a series of blog posts about ‘the devastating impact of knife crime and murder’ on families.
The mother-of-five said: “It is my journey – from getting the phone call through to celebrating Kyron’s 16th birthday without him present in June. I was so isolated and alone when he died. I did not know what to do.” On the figures she said: “I do not believe there is one particular solution. Knife crime is not a colour issue, but a gender and age issue. Mothers from all cultures are crying, as our young men are becoming victims of the blade.” Kyron, from Crystal Palace, south London, was living with his father at the time of his murder. Mrs Webb’s diary reveals the moment she was told he had been stabbed. She wrote: “Kyron’s dead. This is followed by tears and screams. I can hear Kyron’s dad crying, groaning…. I am stunned, what is going on? I feel a little dazed. I am just sitting in stunned silence.” Mrs Webb also details the harrowing moment she made the decision to switch off Kyron’s life support machine. She wrote: “I want the machine to keep him breathing for me, but I know that for Kyron, this will not be a quality of life. “I made the decision to remove my Kyron from this earth completely. I agreed to turn the machine off. I cannot bring Kyron back but in me living free and with a purpose I know that he would have been happy and extremely proud of his mummy.”