Lawyer stabbed to death

Sadly, nothing can (1) bring Tom back to us. But we are pleased and grateful that justice has been done.

The conviction of Delano Brown and Donnel Carty for the murder of our son and son-in-law-to-be, merely for a mobile phone and an Oyster Card was a callous and senseless crime which has devastated the lives of his family, his fiancee and his friends.

We hope that the sentences, 17 years and 21 years respectively, (2) handed down today, will send a message to other youths who habitually carry knives. As Rio Ferdinand said yesterday, knives are not cool, and we must (3) get this message across. It is imperative that we (4) stamp out this current knife culture in our cities.

Both our families would like to thank the Metropolitan Police for their tireless and painstaking work in bringing these two to justice, led by Theresa Defanis and her team and for the constant support given to us by Paul Webb, our police liaison officer.

We must also thank Mr. Richard Howell QC and Mr. Simon Deninson for pursuing the prosecution with great precision and clarity to secure the well-deserved convictions.

Thank you very much.