‘I said to my husband: We need to go, we need to go, Jack’s dead, I know he is’
A MUM has opened up on the last conversation she had with her “happy-go-lucky” son Jack Woodley just minutes before he was brutally attacked and murdered by a gang of youths.
Zoe Mcgill said she had spoken to Jack on the day of his death when he asked her for more money to go on “one more ride” as he enjoyed a day out at Houghton
Feast, in Houghton-le-spring, last year with his girlfriend.
Although Jack did get to go on one last ride, his short life ended that night at the hands of 10 killer teenagers who kicked, punched, and stabbed him.
Jack’s mum has opened up on their last conversation saying he sounded “really happy”. But after she was told that Jack was attacked, his mum said she knew instantly something was “really wrong” and told her husband that she knew “Jack was dead”.
She said: “We spoke at around 8.30am and Jack was always on the want for money off mam and he was asking for one more ride, some money for the last ride and he was saying: ‘Please mam, please.’ So I agreed to give him some more money for another ride which he did get to go on.
“He seemed really happy on the phone he was saying: ‘Mam, it’s class’, but Jack always did like rides, he loved rides, lights, things like that. So I sent him the money and the next thing I heard was a message and I remember, in shock, I hit my husband and then just dived up and ran for the door.
“I think it was just the shock of it. Immediately I knew something was really wrong. I said to my husband: ‘We need to go, we need to go, Jack’s dead, I know he is’ and he said: ‘You don’t know that stop saying it’ and he was basically trying to get me calm.”
Jack’s family rushed to the hospital to be by his bedside but his mum broke down as she described seeing him for the first time after being treated. She said: “He was bloated from all the treatment he had. We went to hold his hand and we were stopped because he was evidence.
“So we just had to stand over him and the nurse gave us some gloves and gowns so we could hold his hand.”
Tragically, Jack passed away during surgery leaving his family and friends heartbroken. Zoe said she was “screaming” when she was told about Jack’s death.
“The days after were horrific I just remember waking up at home and looking out my bedroom window and I kept saying to myself over and over again that it was just a bad dream and I was just thinking of my son in a morgue. “
understand the implication of the being involved in the fight and putting themselves in the scene.
She said: “These children knew there was a knife there and were quite happy to be with that person and be part of an assault where a knife was present and, you know, of course you are responsible for the murder. Even after he’d been stabbed they chased him down an alley and continued to assault him and that didn’t seem to resonate that that wasn’t right.”
The detective described seeing them found guilty of murder as “devastating” and “really traumatic”.
She said: “It was really bittersweet because I do this job to get justice and to basically investigate serious offences and bring people to justice and get justice for the families of people who’ve been bereaved and the victims, but ultimately these are children, their lives are devastated and watching the impact of children getting found guilty of murder was devastating.”
She said it was difficult seeing children being taken down the stairs to jail. She said it was the correct decision as they had caused Jack’s death. She added: “It was hard, there’s no winners in any of this.”