Talented UK music boss and dad killed in his prime
A BRITISH music executive killed in Friday’s Stockholm terror attack was a dedicated and loving father, his family said yesterday.
Married father-of-two Crispin Bevington – known as Chris – was mown down close to his office in the Swedish capital the attack that killed four.
His grieving father yesterday paid tribute to the 41-year-old, who lived in Stockholm with his Swedish wife and their young children.
John Bevington, 70, said: ‘We are all devastated by the untimely and tragic death of our talented, compassionate and caring son Chris.
‘A wonderful husband, son, father, brother and close friend to many.
‘The family requests absolute privacy at this incredibly difficult time to mourn his passing in peace.’
Mr Bevington was a director with the £6.5billion music-streaming firm Spotify, which has its headquarters close to the site where the hijacked truck was driven into crowds.
Flowers were laid in Stockholm’s Sergels torg central square yesterday as Swedes mourned the dead, which also included an 11-year-old girl who had been walking home from school.
The two others killed were another Swede and a 31-year-old Belgian tourist, though none had been identified last night.
Mr Bevington was understood to have been living in Stockholm for around a decade, and was married to Annika, a Swedish copyright lawyer who works for Google.
The couple, who have two young sons, lived in an apartment block in an upmarket suburb in north-west
Stockholm popular with young professional families.
Spotify’s chief executive Daniel Ek paid tribute to Mr Bevington, and expressed his disbelief that such an attack was carried out on the streets of Stockholm.
Mr Ek said: ‘It is with shock and a heavy heart that I can confirm that Chris Bevington from our Spotify team lost his life in Friday’s senseless attack on Stockholm. Chris has been a member of our band for over five years. He has had a great impact on not just the business but on everyone who had the privilege to know and work with him.
‘There are no words for how missed he will be or how sad we all are to have lost him like this. I am as deeply saddened and upset as all of you that something like this could happen in Sweden.
‘The only light in this deeply tragic moment is the outpouring of love, compassion and solidarity that we have seen. And that was exactly the kind of person Chris was as well. We will greatly miss you Chris.’
Hundreds of people posted messages of condolence after Mr Ek’s tribute on Facebook – and thousands more reacted to it, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Mr Bevington was born to British parents in Durban, South Africa, and studied economics and sociology at Loughborough University, where he graduated with a 2:1 degree. He went on to work as a business analyst with Barclays before he began working in the music industry, as an account manager with Warner Music and a label manager with Ovi Music, part of the mobile phone firm Nokia.
His wife also worked at Warner Music – both in London and Stockholm – and the couple were married in 2012.
They had asked guests at their wedding to make donations to British-based charity Oxfam, and Mr Bevington made a heartfelt appeal online.
He said: ‘I was born in South Africa, and had a wonderful early life there. One of the things I remember clearly was a naive inability to understand the inequalities around me. And that was only the parts that I could see in the relative sanctity of the city. Oxfam has always been my charity of choice as it strikes a chord for me with the work they do, with a particular focus on improving all aspects of life in Africa.’
Mr Bevington’s father, a retired chief executive, and mother Pamela, 70, lived in South Africa and Zambia before returning to Britain, and now live in a large detached house near Leatherhead in Surrey.
His older brother Derren, 43, is a married company director, and his younger sister Natasha, 37, is a married events consultant.
The Foreign Office said it was supporting Mr Bevington’s family in Sweden and in the UK.
A spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts are with them and all those affected at this terrible time.
‘We will stand shoulder to shoulder with Sweden as they deal with this tragedy.’
Belgium’s foreign minister Didier Reynders yesterday confirmed that one of the victims was a Belgian woman, who he said had been identified by her ID papers and DNA testing.
Dirk Pieters, who is mayor of Lembeek, in the Belgian city of Halle, told the Belga news agency: ‘I met her several times. I know her parents very well. They are very nice people who have lived in Halle for a long time.’