The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Murder victims’ family speak out against knife crime
The family of two cousins killed in Dundee during a vigil for a missing teenager have paid tribute to their tragic loved ones.
Robert Stratton stabbed Julie McCash, 43, and David Sorrie, 32, in the early hours of February 26 in Drumlanrig Drive.
Julie and David had joined the family of Ralphie Smith, 18, at a house in the Mid Craigie street after the teenager went missing.
They had gathered in the hope that Ralphie, who went missing while walking close to cliffs in Arbroath, was still alive.
Last Thursday, a jury at Edinburgh High Court found Stratton guilty of murdering Julie and of the lesser charge of culpable homicide relating to David. On Monday, Julie’s daughter Khailey McKenzie spoke of the tragedy for the first time.
Khailey also denied the gathering had been one where alcohol and drugs were taken.
She said: “I was getting told my mum had died when I had just left her sitting on the sofa.
“I got home and, 10 minutes later, she had been killed.”
“They were there grieving, they were comforting.
“They were just not that type of people. My mum would be the peacemaker out of everyone. She would be wanting to help everybody just be out to help people.”
David’s partner, Lynsey Berry, said her “world collapsed” when she heard he had been killed.
Both women now hope to raise awareness of the dangers of knife crime.
Lynsey said: “You are never going to be able to get rid of knives, they are an everyday household item.
“But if you can make awareness of it and show the effects that it has on people then it’s a start.”
Khailey added: “All it takes is one stabbing and that’s it. A mum and dad are not going home to their kids.”
Ralphie Smith was discovered a month after the tragedy when a dog walker found the teenager’s body on the beach at Victoria Park.
Robert Stratton was jailed for 23 and a half years.