‘I don’t hate the man who killed mum and brother’

Student says others should not shy away from taking in the homeless despite brutal murder of closest relatives at hands of a rough sleeper. reports

LYDIA Wilkinson’s mother and younger brother were brutally murdered by a man they took in off the streets.

It was a crime nation.

But, still coming to terms with the tragedy, student Lydia says she would “never discourage” people from helping the homeless.

In an interview with the Birmingham Post, a year after the murders, the 19-year-old urges those who want to help vulnerable people to “go through the correct channels”.

Mother Tracey, 50, and brother Pierce, who was 13, died at the hands of Aaron Barley. Businessman father Peter, 47, was left fighting for his life after being knifed six times.

The Wilkinson family had taken Barley into their Stourbridge home, offering him shelter and a job.

But Barley turned on them and launched a frenzied knife attack on the close-knit family on March 30 last year. Lydia was away at university in Bristol.

She arrived back home to the devastating news that her mother and brother had died, and her father was critically ill.

Barley was jailed for life last October for the double killings, and the attempted murder of Peter.

Lydia is a remarkable young woman, and stresses that she is keen not to discourage people from helping those in need.

“My mum and dad did an amazing thing and I would never discourage anyone from helping others in a similar way,” she said.

“But I would always encourage people to go through the charities and organisations specifically set up for that type of thing.

“These charities know the system and they have the correct vetting processes in place. There are a lot of people out there who are in some unfortunate situations and need help – and it is an amazing thing to be able to help them.” that shocked

Of Barley, the man who repaid the family’s kindness with savage brutality, she says she does not hate him.

“I am fairly ambivalent towards him,” she says. “He doesn’t really enter my thoughts.

“I try to keep him and what he did separate from my family and my memories I have of them.

“I do not feel hatred. Feeling hatred, for me, consumes too much energy.

“I hate what he did, and the fact that he has taken the two most precious people away from me, but I want to channel my energy into something positive and build a lasting legacy for my mum and brother.

“I will not allow him to take away my positivity or the memories I have of them.”

Lydia is now ploughing her energies into her studies and raising money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

She has already raised more than £13,000.

“Birmingham Children’s Hospital treated my brother,” she explains. “Although they could not save him, they did – and continue to do – an amazing job.

“I wanted to give something back. The amount of money I have raised so far has been overwhelming, more than I could ever have imagined. I am extremely grateful to everyone who has donated.”

She reveals, too, that she kept a last, loving promise to young brother Pierce.

“Me and my brother were very close,” she says. “I was meant to pick him up from school the day after it happened.

“I had promised Pierce to take him to see the new Star Wars film when it came out.

“So my plan was to put some of his ashes in my pocket at a showing, just to say he has been.”

There is a promise to be kept her mother too.

“I had a very close for relationship with my mum and I will never have that with anyone again,” says Lydia.

“I still find myself going to phone her to tell her things I have done, but then realise I can’t.

“One of the last conversations I had with my mum was about me going on to do my masters degree.

“I know it is what she wanted me to do, so I have continued to focus on my studies.

“It has been tough at times, and it can be difficult to concentrate, but I know it is what my mum wanted me to do, so the thought of that carries me through.”

Her relationship with father Peter, she says, is stronger than ever.

“I talk to my dad every day and come back to see him often,” she says. He is doing well and we both remain positive together.

“My father and I have very different experiences of what happened that day and so we are obviously dealing with different emotions.

“Dad witnessed it, whereas the first I heard about it was through the press. I returned home from university and saw police tape around my house.

“The anniversary was tough and obviously everything is still so raw but me and my dad have always tried to stay positive and look forward.

“We didn’t do anything particular on that day. We just took time to reflect.

“We have said that if we can get through the worst year of our lives, then that can only make us stronger people, and we can get through anything.

“We have done the first birthdays, the first Christmas, the first year anniversary. We are a tight unit and I know we can continue to be strong together.”

To donate to Lydia’s appeal for the Children’s Hospital, visit hwww.justgiving.com/fundraising/lydia-wilkinson1.

Lydia Wilkinson