Don’t drunkenly ruin lives
PLEA FROM MUM OF TEENAGER WHO DIED AFTER ATTACK ON NIGHT OUT
THE mother of a young man who was killed during a night out is encouraging revellers to drink responsibly this weekend.
The first pubs and bars are due to reopen after three months of lockdown tomorrow.
But Maxine Thompson-Curl is urging people to take it easy when they do decide to go back to the pub.
Her son, Kristian Thompson, died at the age of 19 after being punched in the head during a night out in Consett, County Durham.
The teenager suffered a catastrophic brain injury that put him a coma for more than a week. He survived for 10 months but died in 2011.
Since then, Mrs Thompson-Curl has led a campaign to raise awareness about the devastating impact drink-fuelled violence can have.
She said: “It was a major shock and going through 10 months of that with very little support, I didn’t know what to expect.
“When he did die, I needed people to know what one punch could do, and assaults under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
“It is devastation, pure devastation.
“People don’t know how to cope with it, people have post traumatic stress disorder because of it.
“I work with individuals who survived that one-punch assault and their life will never be the same.”
In 2014 Mrs Thompson-Curl set up One Punch North East as a campaign group and it’s now a registered charity. She has spoken to thousands of schoolchildren across the region about what happened to Kristian.
Mrs Thompson-Curl, of South Shields, has teamed up with Durham Constabulary to urge everyone thinking about going back to the pub to think twice about their actions and consider their limits. The 54-yearold said: “What scares me is that people are going to get drunk and lose control after three months of lockdown. Inevitably, some people are going to get hurt.
“Of course people want to have fun but I just want them to be sensible and think about what it would mean if they were in my situation.
“Everyone will be going out to enjoy themselves and no one knowingly goes on a night out to kill someone, but it happens, and I just want people to be aware of their actions.”
Officers will be out in force this weekend across County Durham and Darlington to help keep people safe if they do decide to return to the pub.
The force has also been working closely with its partners to ensure licensees are aware of their responsibilities and promote responsible drinking.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell said: “This is a long-awaited weekend for everybody.
“We are really pleased to see the pubs and bars reopening but we would urge people to act responsibly.
“There will be additional police resources throughout the weekend.
“The message is come out, enjoy it but please be sensible because we have waited collectively as citizens months and months for this.
“I think what we are seeing in Leicester is if people don’t maintain that social distancing then you can get spikes. We will be back to where we were and nobody wants that.
“It will be a great weekend but people need to think about the effect of alcohol and be sensible.
“Our approach is very much to very much stop things from escalating early and keep things at a pace.”