Dad reveals ‘hatred’ for son’s killers
The dad of murdered Mark Shaw has revealed that his “hatred” for his son’s killers is what keeps him going.
Grieving members of Mr Shaw’s family, including his parents and sisters, packed the public gallery when jurors delivered the guilty verdicts against murderers Zoe Warren and Keiran Adey.
Dad Stephen Shaw, 54, who lives in Sunderland, said: “The only thing keeping me going is hatred.
“When an animal is like that it gets put down. I can’t even call them animals because an animal kills to survive, to protect its young, not like this.”
Mark’s mum Valerie Watson fought back tears as she spoke about her much-loved son, who she described as “funny, so kind, generous and loyal”.
She added: “He had never had a fight in his life, he was a peacemaker.
“He would always make people laugh, especially the kids in the family, they called him a clown and he called himself Merlin Mark because he did magic tricks.
“He was invited to all the parties, he was the life and soul of the parties.
“I can honestly say, I have never heard him say a bad word about anyone.
“If he had lived he would have forgiven them and would have made sure there was nothing done to them.
“That was Mark. He didn’t want to see anyone hurt.”
Valerie read a victim impact statement during the hearing and said the tragedy has had a devastating effect on family and friends.
At the end of the statement, she turned to look at her son’s killers and told them: “I have never hated anyone in my life.
“I feel so much hatred towards Keiran Adey and Zoe Warren for their actions, what they did to my beloved son and the subsequent suffering me and my family suffer now and for the rest of our lives.”
Mark’s sister Haley Richardson, 35, added: “The police told us they had spoken to about 250 people after Mark was killed and not one person had a bad word to say about him.
“He has two children, but he did not know about the second one. He has got a baby girl he will never know.
“Her mother was only a few weeks pregnant when Mark died and she didn’t know herself that she was expecting.”
Mark’s other sister Micheala, 39, branded her brother’s killers “evil” and the family, who are from Great Lumley, questioned whether Warren was ever actually Mark’s girlfriend at all, saying he would have helped anyone and have them stay at his home for nothing if they needed.