Specials singer Staple begs for end to knife crime after grandson is killed
♦ Neville Staple, the singer with ska band The Specials, has spoken of his “heartbreaking loss” after his 21-yearold grandson was stabbed to death.
Fidel, the son of Staple’s daughter Melanie, was found with knife wounds behind a Coventry nightclub in the early hours of Saturday. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
Police said a man had been arrested in connection with the death. A 23-year-old man also found with stab injuries remains in hospital.
Staple, 63, went ahead with a performance by his own Neville Staple band at Coventry’s Godiva Festival yesterday, dedicating it to his grandson and his daughter. In a statement on Facebook, he expressed his family’s devastation.
He also thanked the medical staff who had battled to save his grandson’s life, and called for fans to spread the message that knife crime must stop.
Staple wrote: “My beautiful daughter Melanie & wife Christine Sugary, all the family and myself are still shocked by this tragedy, but would like to thank you all for the kindness and messages we have received.
“My wife Christine and I have decided that our shows will go on and will be dedicated to our grandson Fidel and daughter Melanie (who asked that we still perform).
“We ask that you help us turn our pain into a message.
“Let’s show the young people that this knife trend has to stop! It has to stop!!”