Charity tribute to murder victim

FAMILY DETERMINED TO HELP COMBAT KNIFE CRIME

- OLIVIER VERGNAULT

THE family of a man who was murdered outside a Cornwall nightclub have set up a charity in his memory to help combat knife crime.

Rugby player Michael ‘Mike’ Riddiough-Allen, 32, died outside the Eclipse nightclub on April 30 last year after being stabbed to death by Jake Hill during a frenzied attack.

Mike had tried to break up a fight involving dozens of revellers outside the Bodmin club and remove the danger Hill, 25, represented when he was stabbed to death.

Hill, from Bodmin, has now been jailed for life after being found guilty of murder and of four counts of wounding with intent following a six-week trial at Truro Crown Court. He was found not guilty of another charge of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.

Tia Taylor, 22, and Chelsea Powell, 22, both from the Bodmin area, were also sentenced to prison. Powell was found not guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of perverting the course of justice by the jury. Taylor changed her plea to guilty of perverting the course of justice and to manslaughter partway through the trial.

After the jury returned its verdict last month, the families of Mike, Hill, Taylor and Powell stood united outside Truro Crown Court to issue a plea against knives.

At the time Mike’s sister Becky Dustan said: “With no knife the devastating events of that night would not have happened. The presence and use of a knife turned to violence, scarring injuries and haunting images that many will never forget.”

Now Mike’s family have announced the creation of MIKES (Michael’s Initiative for Knifecrime Education in Society) Trust to educate young people about knife crime.