The murder of Sophie Lancaster occurred in England in August 2007. The victim and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were attacked by a group of teenage boys while walking through Stubbylee Park in
Bacup, Rossendale, Lancashire, on 11 August 2007. As a result of the severe
head injuries
A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...
Lancaster sustained in the attack, she went into a
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
from which she never regained consciousness, and died of her injuries thirteen days later. The police said the attack may have been linked to the couple wearing
gothic fashion
Gothic fashion is a clothing style marked by dark, mysterious, antiquated, homogenous, and often genderless features. It is worn by members of the Goth subculture. clothing, Dress, typical gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, exotic hairsty ...
and being members of the
goth subculture
Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of Gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. The name ''Goth'' was derived directly from the genre. Notable post-p ...
.
Five teenage boys were later arrested and charged with murder. Two of them, Ryan Herbert and Brendon Harris were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The other three were convicted and jailed for grievous bodily harm. A memorial fund was established in Lancaster's name, and numerous events have paid tribute to her locally, nationally and internationally. Plays, films, art and books have covered the issues surrounding the murder.
Background
Sophie Lancaster (born 26 November 1986) was a former pupil at
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School (BRGS) is a selective co-educational academy grammar school in Waterfoot, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The school is named after the two main towns either side of Waterfoot, Bacup and Rawtenstall.
...
and
Haslingden High School, and a
gap year
A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...
student planning to attend
Accrington and Rossendale College
Accrington and Rossendale College is a further education college based in Accrington, Lancashire, England.
The College
Accrington & Rossendale College ('Accross') is a further education college that specialises in vocational education.
The ...
to do an English degree. She had been dating Robert Maltby, a 21-year-old art student from Manchester, for three years, and they both had a long-standing attachment to the
goth subculture
Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of Gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. The name ''Goth'' was derived directly from the genre. Notable post-p ...
. The couple's family described them as "Goths", and said: "They're both intelligent, sensitive kids. They're not the sort of people to get in trouble, but they have had problems in the past because they stand out".
Attack
While returning home, Lancaster and Maltby were subjected to a "vicious mob attack" from "a large group of people" between 1:10 and 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, 11 August 2007, at the
skate park
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...
area of Stubbylee Park,
Bacup
Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...
().
The couple were walking home and came across a gang of teenagers at the entrance to the park. The group followed them and assaulted Maltby, knocking him unconscious, and then Lancaster, who was shielding her boyfriend. A 15-year-old witness told police: "They were running over and just kicking her in the head and jumping up and down on her head". One witness used a mobile phone to call for emergency services saying: "We need... we need an ambulance at Bacup Park, this mosher has just been banged because he's a mosher".
''The Guardian'' reported that afterwards, "The killers celebrated their attack on the goths – or 'moshers' – by telling friends afterwards that they had 'done summat
omethinggood', and claiming: 'There's two moshers nearly dead up Bacup park – you wanna see them – they're a right mess'."
Police said that it was "a sustained attack during the course of which the pair received serious head injuries and their faces were so swollen we could not ascertain which one was female and which one was male". Both were hospitalised as a result of the attack, initially at Rochdale Infirmary.
Maltby's injuries left him in a coma and with internal bleeding. He gradually recovered, but had lost memory of the time leading up to, and during, the attack. Lancaster, in a deep coma, was placed on
life support
Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...
and moved to Fairfield General Hospital in
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
, then to the
neurology
Neurology (from el, wikt:νεῦρον, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine), medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of co ...
unit at
Hope Hospital (now Salford Royal Hospital) in
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
. The hospital staff determined that she would never regain consciousness, and on 24 August 2007 her life support was terminated.
Arrests and investigation
Lancashire Police
Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston. , the force has 3,088 police offic ...
arrested five individuals in connection with the attack, but conducted extensive further investigations, as it appeared that up to fifteen people were in the area and may have witnessed or participated in the assault. The police identified the gothic dress of the couple as a possible motivation for the attack. A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old were
remanded in custody
Remand, also known as pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held i ...
, while two 15-year-olds and a 17-year-old were released on
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
. They were originally charged with causing
grievous bodily harm
Grievous bodily harm (often abbreviated to GBH) is a term used in English criminal law to describe the severest forms of battery. It refers to two offences that are created by sections 18 and 20 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861. The ...
with intent, but following Lancaster's death the
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
charged all five boys with her murder.
By 5 October 2007, after questioning more than 100 people, the police concluded that they were not expecting to make any more arrests in the case, and although 15–20 people were in the park at some point during the night of the attack, they believed that many were not directly involved, as the area was a regular night time hangout spot for teenagers.
Local residents identified the park as a spot often used by "drunken, violent
yobs" guilty of
vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
and
under-age drinking. They had asked for measures to be taken about the area before the tragedy occurred. Following the murder, residents called for improved security in the area, but
Rossendale Borough Council Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England:
Places
*Rossendale Valley, a river valley
*Borough of Rossendale, a local government district
*Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency), a former parliamentary constitu ...
said park rangers would be too expensive.
Trial and aftermath
On 6 September 2007, the five suspects were charged with murder at
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
Youth Court
A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...
. Three were released on bail: two boys aged 15 and 17 from
Shawforth
Shawforth ( ) is a ward in the township of Whitworth within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. It lies amongst the South Pennines along the course of the River Spodden and A671 road.
Shawforth in the Middle Ages was a hamlet withi ...
, and a 17-year-old boy from
Bacup
Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...
. On 18 October at Burnley Youth Court, all five were summoned to appear at
Preston Crown Court
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
. A preliminary hearing was held on 31 October 2007, where all five were charged with the murder of Lancaster and grievous bodily harm with intent for the assault on Maltby. A further plea and case management hearing was ordered by Judge Anthony Russell QC for 14 December. The judge also indicated a provisional trial date, on both allegations, of 10 March 2008. At the hearing on 14 December 2007, the five accused pleaded not guilty on both charges.
At the beginning of the trial on 10 March 2008, all five boys pleaded guilty to the charge of grievous bodily harm with intent, Ryan Herbert pleaded guilty to murder, Brendan Harris pleaded not guilty to murder, while the murder charges against the other three were dropped. As the trial opened the prosecution told the hearing: "Sophie and Robert were singled out not for anything they had said or done, but because they looked and dressed differently". The jury heard extensive descriptions of the severity of the attack from a number of witnesses and through a recorded phone conversation taken at the time.
At the conclusion of the trial on 27 March 2008, Brendan Harris was found guilty of murder, and the judge allowed the names of both Harris and Herbert, which had been withheld during the trial, to be made public.
Detective Superintendent
Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...
Mick Gradwell of Lancashire Police said it was one of the most violent murders he had come across in his career: "I do not think Herbert and Harris have recognised how violent the attack was. They have just done it without thinking, but they seemed to have enjoyed it, and carried on remorselessly kicking at two very defenceless people who were unable to protect themselves because of the level of violence inflicted upon them ... I am very critical of some of the parents involved. I really don't think they have taken completely seriously how repulsive this incident was". He said that when Harris was initially interviewed about the assaults he was "laughing and joking" with his mother.
Sentencing in the case was set for 28 April 2008. Both Harris and Herbert were sentenced to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
with the trial judge recommending that Harris should serve at least eighteen years and Herbert at least sixteen years and three months. In his closing remarks the judge described the attack as "feral thuggery" which raised questions about the "sort of society which exists in this country". He added: "This was a terrible case which has shocked and outraged all who have heard about it. At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food. You have none and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself".
The three other defendants were also sentenced for their role in the attack. Brothers Joseph and Danny Hulme, and Daniel Mallett, who had all earlier pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent on Maltby, were jailed. Mallett was sentenced to four years and four months, and the Hulme brothers for five years and ten months each.
On 13 June 2008, it was reported that all the defendants were appealing against the sentences for their convictions. The appeal was heard on 7 October 2008 with an announcement that the result would be released at a later date. On 29 October the results of the appeal were announced. Ryan Herbert had his minimum term reduced from sixteen years and three months to fifteen years and six months, a reduction of nine months after the appeal judges ruled not enough allowance had been made for his guilty plea in the initial trial. Herbert then had his tariff cut to fourteen and a half years on 10 February 2020, as a High Court judge concluded he had made "exceptional progress" in prison. Brendan Harris and the three other defendants had their appeals dismissed.
Tributes to Lancaster
The park where the attack occurred was covered with floral tributes to the couple soon after the attack, and online message boards have seen many tributes to Lancaster from well-wishers, including some from Europe and America, including a special
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and a
Bebo
Bebo ( ) was an American Social networking service, social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number ...
group in her honour.
The attack was widely condemned in Lancashire and Rossendale by Council leaders and the local community. At the alternative electronic music festival
Infest in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
on 26 August 2007, just after Lancaster's death,
Ronan Harris
Ronan Harris (born 14 June 1967) is the founding member of the electronic music project VNV Nation. He is credited with the songwriting, production, lyrical and vocal aspects of the band's music. In the years preceding VNV Nation's debut album, h ...
of
VNV Nation
VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballads ...
dedicated the song "Illusion" to her and contacted the family to offer his condolences. There has also been discussion of a plaque in her memory in the park. A song was dedicated to Lancaster in concerts at Bacup's Royal Court Theatre on 6/7 September 2007, and a collection taken. A twelve-hour-long concert in her honour was held on 6 October 2007, in the grounds of
Bacup Borough F.C.
Bacup Borough Football Club is a football club based in Bacup, Lancashire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at West View. They are full members of the Lancashire County Football Association.
History
The club was founded ...
, featuring 10 bands. The club played a game during the concert with all the takings going to the memorial fund;
this included a song written in Lancaster's honour. Lancaster's family and friends set up a website in her memory and have decided to use the contributions from wellwishers and these events to set up a special fund to be known as "S.O.P.H.I.E". Standing for "Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere", it aims to "provide an appropriate memorial; a lasting legacy to raise awareness of the injustice perpetrated against Sophie Lancaster and to work towards a more tolerant, less violent society".
Lancaster's mother said: "it will also help fund group sessions with young people to teach them about alternative cultures and to respect everyone". A special black ribbon was being sold to support the fund available at the many events being held across Rossendale and in local shops. Lancaster's memory was further honoured at the
Eccentrik Festival in
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, and it was said that "three more concerts are planned in California, one in Iowa and one in Brisbane, Australia".
A number of gothic gigs and club nights across the UK and Ireland dedicated a night to Lancaster in October and November 2007, including the
Whitby Gothic Weekend
Whitby Goth Weekend, abbreviated to WGW or nicknamed Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for the gothic subculture, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire.
Summary
Whitby Goth Weekend is an alternative music fest ...
. A collection was raised from these events to place a
memorial bench
A memorial bench, memorial seat or death bench is a piece of outdoor furniture which commemorates a dead person. Such benches are typically made of wood, but can also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials such as plastics. Typically mem ...
to her in
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
.
The bench was put in place on Whitby's West Cliff in January 2008.
The "Sophie Award" has been established as an ongoing prize for innovative and experimental film-making at Bacup Film Festival. Lancaster's public funeral was organised for 12 November 2007, and attended by hundreds of people, including
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
film crews. On 25 November 2007, Lancaster's friends held a memorial concert to "commemorate Sophie's uniqueness", featuring her favourite local bands, the night before what would have been Lancaster's 21st birthday, at St Mary's Chambers,
Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the cen ...
; the concert was covered by
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
. A repeat event was planned for 26 November 2008, headlined by
The Damned and AOR featuring
Dave Sharp
Dave Sharp (born 28 January 1959) is an English guitarist who co-founded, along with Mike Peters, the Welsh punk/new wave band The Alarm.
Early career
Sharp was born in Kersal, Salford, Lancashire, and began playing with the band Seventeen ...
, founder member of
The Alarm
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language ...
.
On 13 January 2009, it was announced that the
Bloodstock Open Air
Bloodstock Open Air is a British heavy metal music, heavy metal rock festival, festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005.
Originally held indoors for one day with two stages, the festival started in 2001 ...
festival were to rename their second stage to ''The Sophie Lancaster Stage'' in tribute, and to promote the S.O.P.H.I.E. Campaign. The second stage has carried the name each year since.
On 24/25 June 2008, Carabas Theatre Company performed a new dark comedy that dealt with perceptions of the Gothic subculture, donating all profits to the S.O.P.H.I.E fund. The work was performed at the Gregson Centre, Moor Lane,
Lancaster. In a discussion after the performance, the cast and audience discussed Goth culture, the issues raised in the performance, and the possibility of educating young people about different subcultures to foster unity and acceptance from a young age. The work, "Suckers", was written and directed by M. J. Wesolowski, and the production raised money for the S.O.P.H.I.E fund.
On 3 June 2010, Robert Maltby began an exhibition of his own art at
Affleck's Palace
Afflecks (formerly Affleck's Palace) is an indoor market in Manchester, England, in the city's Northern Quarter on the junction of Church Street/Tib Street and Dale Street with Oldham Street. Dozens of independent stalls, small shops and boutiq ...
in Manchester containing 15 paintings inspired by Lancaster. The exhibition was called ''Crimson Iris: The Art of Sophie''. The money raised went to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.
The 2012
Delain
Delain is a Dutch symphonic metal band formed in 2002 by former Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt, intending for the band to be solely a project. Singer Charlotte Wessels was invited to join in 2005. The name of the band comes fr ...
album and single ''
We Are the Others
''We Are the Others'' is the third full-length album by the Dutch symphonic metal band Delain. It was released in the Benelux and Germany on 1 June 2012 and in the United Kingdom and France on 4 June by CNR Music, who took over Delain when War ...
'' is dedicated to her memory. Delain played at Bloodstock open air and chose to play at the Sophie Lancaster stage on 7 August 2015.
On 28 July 2012 Punk Poet Andy T (Andy Thurlow) released a song "Sophie Lancaster" on the "Life at Tether's End" LP; he normally performs this at live shows.
On 14 June 2014, it was announced that Lancaster's mother Sylvia was to receive an
OBE in recognition of her campaign to promote a more tolerant society.
Media reaction
The attack was discussed in the media in connection with a wave of youth
gang
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
-related violence in the UK over the summer of 2007, including the murder of Liverpool schoolboy
Rhys Jones. Then
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
leader
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
mentioned the attack as an example in a "speech criticising youth crime and Britain's 'real and growing' problem with violence". Since then, coverage has mainly been restricted to the local press and the Internet, except for the funeral, which received wider coverage. In February 2008, ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' compared the limited amount of coverage the Lancaster case received to the large amount of coverage worldwide which the media paid to the case of discrimination faced by a
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
goth couple who were thrown off a bus: "That the story received just a fraction of the coverage by the dog-lead goths tells you something about society. The British eccentric has become the circus freak."
However, the trial in March 2008 saw extensive coverage in national media.
On 13 March 2008, ''
Bizarre magazine
''Bizarre'' was a British alternative magazine published from 1997 to 2015.[Media Information](_blank)
Dennis P ...
'' launched a "Proud to be Different" campaign in honour of Lancaster.
Rod Liddle
Roderick E. Liddle (born 1 April 1960) is an English journalist and an associate editor of ''The Spectator''. He was an editor of BBC Radio 4's ''Today'' programme. His published works include ''Too Beautiful for You'' (2003), ''Love Will Destr ...
of ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' observed after the murder that the victims of the attack had paid the price for the indulgence of the "feral" criminals who perpetrated it "by their parents, by the courts, by the council, by a government which wants to send fewer such people to prison."
There are a large number of Facebook groups dedicated to Lancaster. With the exception of the "Sophie Lancaster Foundation" group, none of these are official, and nearly all focus on the tragedy of her death.
On 26 November 2009, which would have been Lancaster's 23rd birthday, a 4-minute animation named ''Dark Angel'', based on the murder, was released onto the internet and shown on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
. The film was also projected onto a screen in the
Cathedral Gardens
Cathedral Gardens is an open space in Manchester city centre, in North West England. It is bounded by Victoria railway station to the north, Chetham's School of Music to the west, the perimeter of Manchester Cathedral and the Corn Exchange on F ...
in Manchester.
In July 2010, the book ''Weirdo Mosher Freak'' by journalist Catherine Smyth was published about the murder.
On 11 March 2011,
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
broadcast the play ''Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster'', consisting of poems by
Simon Armitage
Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds.
He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...
telling the story of Lancaster's life, combined with the personal recollections of her mother. The role of Lancaster was played by Rachel Austin. On 11 October 2015,
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 broadcast ''Black Roses : The Killing of Sophie Lancaster'', a 45-minute tribute. Her story was told through a sequence of poems by
Simon Armitage
Simon Robert Armitage (born 26 May 1963) is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds.
He has published over 20 collections of poetr ...
. Lancaster's mother – Sylvia Lancaster – was played by actress
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh (born 25 February 1970) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her role as Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' between 1998 and 2014. For this role, she won Best Serial Drama Perfor ...
. She spoke the words of Sylvia Lancaster about the life and death of Sophie (who was played by Austin reprising her role) throughout the programme.
On 18 June 2017,
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
released a film based on the events surrounding Lancaster's death, ''
Murdered for Being Different
''Murdered for Being Different'', is a 2017 British crime drama film directed by Paul Andrew Williams. It is based on the 2007 murder of Sophie Lancaster in the United Kingdom.
The film is about two people from the goth subculture who are assa ...
''. In 2021, it was announced that Lancaster's murder was to inspire a new storyline on ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
'', centred around hate crime. Character
Nina Lucas
'' Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters introduced in 2019, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by series producer Iain MacLeod. The first c ...
(Mollie Gallagher) was attacked for her gothic appearance, as was her boyfriend
Seb Franklin
The following is a list of ''Coronation Street'' characters introduced in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by series producer Stuart Blackburn, or his successor Kate Oates.
Marta Zarek
Marta Zarek, played by Ed ...
(Harry Visinoni) who ended up dying in hospital.
Reaction in the goth and alternative community
The crime has received much discussion and expressions of sympathy, not just amongst the UK
goth subculture
Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of Gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. The name ''Goth'' was derived directly from the genre. Notable post-p ...
, but in other subcultures, and overseas as well. Martin Coles, who organised the Whitby bench fund, said, "Since starting the online campaign to raise awareness of the collection I've been contacted by people from all over the world that have been shocked by this, and not just those from the gothic community, I've been talking to goths, bikers, metallers, people from the electro and indie scenes, just about any 'alternative' genre".
Many discussions have focused on whether the attack should be described as an example of a
hate crime
A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
and has been compared to the murder of the punk
Brian Deneke
On December 12, 1997, 19-year-old American punk subculture, punk musician Brian Theodore Deneke (March 9, 1978 – December 12, 1997) was killed in a deliberate hit and run (vehicular), hit and run attack in Amarillo, Texas, by 17-year-old Dusti ...
in the United States. It has been widely perceived by goths as a more extreme example of the social
intolerance
Intolerance may refer to:
* Hypersensitivity
Hypersensitivity (also called hypersensitivity reaction or intolerance) refers to undesirable reactions produced by the normal immune system, including allergies and autoimmunity. They are usual ...
, violence and abuse people can suffer as a result of their attachment to the goth subculture.
''The Observer'' said on 17 February 2008 that the case was one of a "rash of violent attacks targeting punk, goth and metal kids... Sophie Lancaster's case has become a rallying cry for those in the goth scene worried about this upsurge of violence".
This discussion of the case led to an
online petition
An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...
to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
"to Widen the definition of 'Hate Crime', to include crimes committed against a person or persons, on the basis of their appearance or
subcultural
A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
interests" on the 10 Downing Street website.
Ade Varney, creator of the petition, said that goths "get verbal assaults every day, and not just from young people. But now younger teenagers have the mentality of hardened criminals, and I definitely sense this violent aspect getting worse.... Sophie's death has made people think, and I have heard of teenagers, especially girls, modifying the way they dress when they walk through certain areas". This led to political developments: the ''
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 201 ...
'' reported that
Rossendale MP
Janet Anderson
Janet Anderson (born 6 December 1949) is a former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992 until 2010, when she lost her seat. Her time as MP is remembered for her role as Minister for ...
and
Hyndburn
Hyndburn is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington and covers the outlying towns of Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood, Oswaldtwistle and Rishton. The borough was created in 197 ...
MP
Greg Pope
Gregory James Pope (born 29 August 1960) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn from 1992, until retiring at the general election of 2010. He was a government whip from 1997 until 2001.
Early ...
"are set to request a debate in the
Commons
The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
to call for the widening of the law to include such an attack under the definition of a hate crime as soon as possible". The paper reported that they would be "putting forward an
early day motion
In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...
calling on the government to give the matter 'urgent consideration'."
In May 2009, the
Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
,
Jack Straw
John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
, said that while he could not change the law, he could amend the sentencing guidelines to require judges to treat an attack on a member of a subculture as an aggravating factor, similar to a racially motivated or homophobic assault, when sentencing perpetrators.
In April 2013, the
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
announced they would officially begin to record offences committed against goths and other alternative groups as hate crimes, as they do with offences specifically aimed at someone's race, disability or sexual orientation.
10th Anniversary of the murder
In 2017, Robert Maltby gave his first full-length interview on the tenth anniversary of Sophie's murder. Maltby revealed that his brain had fully recovered following the attack and he had returned to his art studies but had struggled with depression and could not bring himself to immediately visit Sophie's grave. He explained that beyond working with the producers of ''Murdered for Being Different'' he had been reluctant to talk about the events due to what he saw as the "patronising" way the crime has been depicted and that he would rather be remembered for his career in art rather than association with the murder. He also stated that he didn't view Sophie's death as a
hate crime
A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
and described the media's focus on the goth angle as an "oversimplification of a much broader social issue" and "victim blaming." Maltby also revealed that he no longer followed goth fashion, had since entered into a new relationship and planned to move abroad to further his artistic ambitions.
See also
*
Death of Brian Deneke
On December 12, 1997, 19-year-old American punk musician Brian Theodore Deneke (March 9, 1978 – December 12, 1997) was killed in a deliberate hit and run attack in Amarillo, Texas, by 17-year-old Dustin Camp.
Camp was later found guilty of vo ...
*
Suicide of Nicola Ann Raphael
References
External links
The Sophie Lancaster Foundation Charity Commission
, type = Non-ministerial government department
, seal =
, seal_caption =
, logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg
, logo_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, ...
registered
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
number
1129689''Murdered for Being Different'' BBC Three.
Violence against goths is a hate crime The Guardian. Author - Simon Price. Published 4 April 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
HuffPost (UK edition). Author - James Woods. Published 23 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Sophie
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