Parents plea on killers
Dec 10 2007 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
A CAMPAIGN to secure longer jail terms for murderers was taken on to the streets by the family of Sunderland stabbing victim Kevin Johnson this weekend.
John and Kath Johnson, from Ridley Avenue, Ryhope, are angry at the thought that their 22-year-old son’s three teenage killers will each be out of jail before they are 40.
Kevin was stabbed in the heart after he asked the trio to be quiet outside his home on Partick Road, Pennywell.
He had lived there with his fiancee, Adele, their son Chaise, who was then seven months old, and Adele’s seven-year-old child from a previous relationship.
His killers – Dean Curtis, 19, Tony Hawkes, 17, and Jordan Towers, 16, all from Sunderland – were convicted last month of stabbing Kevin to death before moments later wounding another man with the same knife.
Curtis, of Forest Road, Ford Estate, was given life with a term of at least 17 years; Hawkes, of Mortimer Street, 16 years; and Towers, of Fell Road, 13 years. But for Kevin’s family, the punishment does not correspond with the damage they inflicted.
John, 56, and Kath, 57, are looking to collect 100,000 signatures backing their message, “Enough is Enough”, before they deliver the petition in person to Downing Street.
They were joined at the official launch on Saturday afternoon by North-East mothers Ruth Chipp, Dorothy Hardy and Lynn Hood, all of whom have had sons or daughters murdered.
A book was opened, on Park Lane in Sunderland City Centre, for members of the public to sign as a show of support.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Mr Johnson said: “This will bring awareness to the public about what we are trying to achieve – that life should mean life.
“We aim to get 100,000 signatures to show the Government the support we have got in the North-East.
“Once we have got the 100,000 signatures, we will be going to Downing Street to present it to the Prime Minister.
“The lads who did this to Kevin will all have some of their life left when they get out of prison – my son doesn’t have that luxury.
“We are trying to give the victims of crime a voice because we are forgotten too much.”
