The mother of 21-year-old Josh Hanson, who was murdered during a night out in Eastcote , has spoken out three months on from her son's tragic death.
Tracey Hanson, who lived with Josh in Kingsbury, Brent , with sister Brooke, has worked tirelessly on a social media campaign to catch his killer and raise awareness of knife crime since the fateful incident on October 11 2015.
Ms Hanson set up Facebook page ' Justice for Josh Hanson ' shortly after his death, which has now gathered over 25,000 'likes'.
She told Getwestlondon : “It seems to get harder every day. It’s hard to completely grieve when you’re busy trying to get justice.
“My day’s now spent with around 8-10 hours on social media, it’s a lot of work. I’ve had people reach out to me, who’ve gone through something very similar experiences and that’s just heart-wrenching.
“For me it’s about knife crime - stop and search needs to be more active - it’s an epidemic as far as I’m concerned.”
Ms Hanson says the support she's received through social media is a driving force that keeps her going through her grief.
She said: “It’s important to us to know that we have the support of the public, who have been phenomenal - we are bowled over by the messages we have received.
“Since that day we’ve been in a dark place, but then you just get a message of hope and have people behind you that you’ve never even met, and it’s very humbling.
“We’ve got to work hard now, to get justice for Josh, and create awareness about knife crime and anything we can do to prevent that.”
Difficult Christmas
Ms Hanson recalled the past three months since the tragic incident, which took place in the early hours of Sunday morning at The RE Bar, Field End Road, Eastcote.
She said: “I’ve only been back to the scene once to lay flowers and that was just horrific.
“When I received the call to hear what had happened to Josh, I went there, and was there until 5am. The police told me nothing was going to happen but I just didn’t want to leave until Josh’s body was removed.
2,000 people turned up to Josh's funeral, who was described as a popular 21-year-old and the “life and soul of the party.”
The funeral service was held at the Sacred Heart Church in Kilburn , on November 20.
Ms Hanson has just been through a difficult Christmas period without her beloved son.
She said: “As a family we sat round the table, we set a place for him, we all shared a bit of his dinner and a bit of his champagne.
“At New Years, we set off lanterns, lit candles and said our prayers. It was very much like Josh was still there…but obviously not in person but in spirit, wherever his spirit lies.”
“This year Josh had so many plans laid out, he loved festivals. I introduced him to that, I took him to his first festival when he was very very young. He had all these plans ready for this year.
"What he lived for was to work very hard, and live life. He was saving for his first property which is very commendable at 21. He would’ve been 22 next month (February 27).
The family are hoping their 'Justice for Josh Hanson' campaign will gain official charity status in 2016, after already raising over £30,000 .
The money was used to fund Josh's large-scale 'final farewell', as well as merchandise and printing posters, which have been spread far and wide by supporters.
The charity will put on events for families who have been affected by unprovoked knife crime so they have a platform to speak out.
For now, the family are unable to grieve until justice is served and Josh's killer is caught.
'Do the right thing', police urge those with information
Police are continuing their nationwide manhunt for Shane O'Brien , 27, of Ladbroke Grove, with a £10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.
The Metropolitan police arrested a 24-year-old man on October 28 , on an inbound flight to the UK on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and assisting an offender, and has since been re-bailed to a date in mid-January 2016 pending further enquiries.
Ms Hanson is pleading with any members of the public with information to do “the right thing” and come forward.
She said: “Don’t be scared, don’t overthink it.
“If you’ve sat on the information since the day, it doesn’t matter, it’s never too late - no matter how irrelevant you think it may be.
“Help us, to allow us to grieve properly. For every picture of my son on social media, I’m having to look at Shane O’Brien - we’re not even being given the space for Josh.
“We need justice for this, someone needs to be accountable. Someone, somewhere can make all the difference to this in one call and Crimestoppers really is anonymous.”
Ms Hanson and daughter Brook thank the public for all they've done and expressed their concern for the Eastcote community.
She added: “They’re in shock, that it’s happened in their lovely, quiet area and they just can’t bear what happened.
“They’ve been amazing with laying flowers and the hundred of messages of support.
“There’s not a minute of a day that goes by where we don’t think about Josh. I have his ashes here, so I talk to him, all day, every day.”
Anyone with information about his whereabouts can call the incident room on 020 8785 8099 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via crimestoppers-uk.org.
