Today, the 26th of November is Sophie Lancaster’s birthday. Maybe you haven’t heard of her and her tragic destiny yet. She was killed two years ago. The reason? She looked „different”, pertaining to the „Goth” subculture. The animated movie presents the moment when she and her boyfriend were attacked.

Translated by Iulia Pascu

The International Day Against Intollerance, Discrimination and Violence Based on Musical Preferences, Lifestyle and Dress Code.

August the 24th is just a day for many of us, simply a date in the calendar; a day which has recently acquired a special meaning by declaring it the International Day against Discrimination, Violence and Intolerance based on Musical Preferences, Dress Code and Lifestyle. Unfortunately this day has a history behind it and it would be better to be remembered and taken under consideration.On 24th of August 2007, Sophie Lancaster died because of the injuries caused by a brutal attack on her, caused by some teenagers, what was her fault? SHE HAD NONE! The Mere fact that she and her boyfriend were different, that they wanted to express themselves freely and to live by their own principles generated the hate of those who attacked her and caused the tragic event. The cruel violence cast upon her and her boyfriend Rob Maltby was based on the irrational fact that they belonged to the Goth subculture. Their attackers were young, ages 15 and 16, teenagers that behaved like beasts, attacking them in a group and hitting them until they were brought in the hospital in a coma. Rob has managed to survive, his body being defended by Sophie, but she died after two weeks spent in a coma. It is shocking to realize that these facts were make by young culprits acting out of control with a mad behavior. The questions are obvious : In what environment did those teenagers grow up since they were able to produce such violence? were they mentally unballanced? What behavior did those parents have if they brought up people so dangerous to social life? And last but not least, what is the direction towards which today’s society is moving? how long will this discrimination and violence be tollerated?
Sophie’s death is, above all, an important warning signal. We should acknowledge our actions in order to change our way of thinking. Let’s be open minded about people, but rational and sensitive, let’s overcome false social rules and hypocritical dogmas before they become a danger to ourselves. We are all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, lifestyle, dress code and preferences. Each of us has a distinct personality, but at his core he is a social being who can communicate and prevent conflicts. Violence does nothing more than to overshadow human nature, through violence we isolate and generate hatred. If we stop attacking verbally and physically those around us we will feel free moreover we will be relaxed. Suddenly, we will not be surrounded by enemies. Why do we, as youths, create this huge gap of intolerance and hatred between us? It’s certainly not the proper way to develop towards civilization to interpersonal relations. In Romania and other countries, many of the basic human rights are encrouched upon every day; many people are abused without a reason. Their cases are the same with that of Sophie and Rob’s, innocent people end up suffering from the lack of education and morality of others.
A first step towards a society without violence is personal and social awareness. The second step is to be conscious and to reason correctly; to judge people by their character and their deeds not by their appearence, to see them as our equals. Nobody has the right to impose its laws upon others, to force them to accept false ideologies. We don’t want other victims like Rob and Sophie and certainly we shouldn’t tollerate violence and abuse any longer. Hope you will consider the 24th of August as an awakening, as an appeal to conscience and humanity. Only together can we evolve.

Florina Iuriet

Mother of murdered goth Sophie Lancaster: “I’ll make sure my precious girl did not die in vain”

Exclusive by Matt Roper 3/05/2008

Mirror.co.uk , News

Sylvia Lancaster could be forgiven if she had come to detest the lawless, violent young men and women she was employed to work with.

It would be impossible to condemn her if she had turned her back on them and walked away, washed her hands of their mindless, drunken thuggery.

Sylvia’s 20-year-old daughter Sophie had been beaten to death by a gang of binge-drinking teenagers because she was a Goth, viciously kicked and punched simply because of the way she dressed.

But in the week her daughter’s killers were jailed for life, Sylvia came to realise that if she turned her back on the teenagers she had once mentored there might be other Sophies, more young men and women condemned to be victims of mindless acts of violence.

So she vowed to carry on, determined that her daughter didn’t die in vain.

Sophie had been kicked and stamped on by Brendan Harris, 15, and Ryan Herbert, 16, in a park in Bacup, Lancs, last August in an act of what the judge called “feral thuggery” as she tried to stop them attacking her Goth boyfriend Robert Maltby.

Judge Anthony Russell QC told them: “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.”

In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, Sylvia, 52, says: “Sophie was always trying to build bridges, always trying to show young people it was OK to be different. It bothered her that people were so narrow-minded.

“She would often get called names and was once punched in the face because of the way she dressed.

“So I thought we could do some work together in youth groups, showing young people that it isn’t right to attack other people just because of the way they look or the kind of music they listen to.

“I’d decided to ask Sophie if she would go with me and talk about herself so they’d begin to understand and act differently. I was going to call her but I got distracted by someone at the door. It would have been our last call.”

Later that evening Sophie and Robert had been walking across a local park where they were confronted by Harris and Herbert who had drunk at least four pints of strong lager and downed shots of schnapps. They laid into 20-year-old Robert and as Sophie tried to protect him, they stamped on her head, laughing and egging each other on. Robert eventually recovered but Sophie died from her injuries 13 days later. Today Sylvia recalls the moment she saw her daughter in hospital with the mark of one of the thugs’ trainer imprinted on her head.

She says: “At first I was in shock and just couldn’t believe what was happening. I just thought, ‘Bloody hell, how could you do that to another human being?

“And that’s when I remembered the plans I’d had to help teenagers accept each others’ differences – but now I was the victim and without Sophie I didn’t want to think about going ahead with it.

“On the day they turned off the life-support machine I held her in my arms, tears pouring down my face and I told her how much I loved her. I just couldn’t believe that I was losing her for ever.”

During the trial Sylvia watched as the boys who had killed her daughter showed no remorse for what they had done, laughing, winking at the jury and staring her out from the dock.

And by the time they were convicted she was so disturbed by what she saw she decided to abandon the caring profession she had once loved.

“I felt that I couldn’t carry on doing the job. I didn’t know if I could look other teenagers in the eye and bring myself to feel sympathy and understanding for them,” she says. “To choose to beat a young girl to death just because she looks different and then show no remorse made me sick. I felt nothing but contempt for them.”

But Sylvia went back to work – and it was there that she had a dramatic change of heart.

“I was dealing with troublesome teenagers and I was talking to a young lad who’d been having problems,” she explains.

“He told me he’d jumped on someone’s head and that night I started getting angry at the state we’ve allowed this country to get to. I began to think, ‘Somebody’s got to do something because the way teenagers are now is completely unacceptable.’ “Children need to understand the consequences of their actions. They need to know that there is never just one victim. Sophie’s death has shattered so many lives, not just my own or Robert’s or her brother Adam’s, but the lives of so many others who knew her.

“Sophie’s best friend, for instance, is terrified to go out on her own now. She’s very fragile and her family are beside themselves with worry. I’d tried to wash my hands of it but if everyone just ignores the problem it’s only going to get worse and there will be many more victims, many more families mourning their loved ones.

“I’m even more determined now to do my job well and teach young people who treat each other with respect. But whereas before I was doing it because of sympathy with them, now I’m on the side of the victim. I want to do everything to prevent other mothers having to suffer like I have.”

Sylvia has also set up a foundation in her daughter’s memory and is raising funds by selling a wristband spelling out SOPHIE – Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere.

This week she spoke to Prime Minister Gordon Brown about her plans to talk to young people in schools and youth groups, and produce training materials for teachers and youth workers.

Backing the Daily Mirror’s Reclaim Our Streets campaign, she says: “There’s no quick fix. What we need is an honest debate acknowledging that we have a big problem and that things are much worse than we might be prepared to believe.

“There are many things causing our young people to be more violent and more intolerant but some of the areas we need to talk about are alcohol, drugs, lack of motivation, lack of education, lack of a moral sense, a society that stands by and watches and a judicial system that doesn’t allow them to be punished.

“That’s what I told Gordon Brown, who seemed genuinely concerned. He talked to me about his plans to increase community policing and told me to get in touch with him if I had any more ideas.”

Sylvia is still struggling to come to terms with her loss and has many low moments.

“I cry every day,” she says. “I’ll never get over losing my precious daughter but, if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to make sure she didn’t die in vain.”

There are so many reasons why young people are so violent today

To Make A Donation to Sophie’s Foundation go to www.myspace.com/inmemoryofsophie

The following songs were composed for Sophie Lancaster:

The Story of Sophie

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RIP Sophie