Family of tragic Alan Cartwright celebrate teenager’s life one year on from murder in Caledonian Road
The family of Alan Cartwright pay their respects at his memorial outside Cally Pool, in Caledonian Road, yesterday - the first anniversary of his murder. Picture: James Morris - Credit: Archant
The defiant family of 15-year-old Alan Cartwright ensured his memory will live on a year after his murder.
Yesterday morning, Alan’s relatives returned to Cally Pool, in Caledonian Road, where he died last year after being stabbed in an unprovoked attack.
Together, they walked to his memorial outside the swimming pool, before gathering in nearby Thornhill Square, where a cherry blossom tree was planted in his memory. A celebration of his life was also held in Kennedy’s pub in Caledonian Road last night.
Sister Cherrie Ives, 22, told the Gazette outside his memorial yesterday: “Mum and dad come down every Friday to light candles, but obviously being a year today, it does make it a bit more daunting.
“It’s been a whole year. It’s gone so fast. Nobody can believe it, really. It’s quite scary.”
Alan, who lived in Huntington Street, off Caledonian Road, was a former City and Islington College pupil.
On the evening of Friday, February 27 last year, he was cycling with friends when Joshua Williams, 18, jumped from behind a car and drove a knife into his chest.
Most Read
- 1 Teenager arrested in Deshuan Tuitt murder investigation
- 2 Teenage Highbury Fields fatal stabbing victim named by police
- 3 Inside the esports gaming arena coming to Islington's Upper Street
- 4 'All I could see was the water coming up': Clean-up begins after Holloway flooding
- 5 'Like a tsunami': Burst water main floods Islington street
- 6 Landlord who did not provide kitchen for tenant fined £40,000
- 7 Finsbury Park man due in court charged with pub murder
- 8 'The grim history of London's water supply'
- 9 Coldplay at Wembley Stadium: Setlist and photos
- 10 Polio virus found in Islington sewage
He and two accomplices – Shaquille Roberts, 19, and a 17-year-old boy who can’t be named – had schemed to steal the bikes being ridden by Alan and three of his friends.
Williams, 18, of Davenant Road, Upper Holloway, was jailed for a minimum 21 years after being found guilty of Alan’s murder following an eight-day Old Bailey trial in September.
Roberts was sentenced to 30 months’ detention in a young offenders’ institution, while the 17-year-old was handed a 28-month sentence after both pleaded guilty to robbery.
Asked if her family has since found closure, Cherrie said: “After the court case we got the justice that we were looking for.
“We knew it was not time to forget everything that happened - but a time that we could have Al laid to rest and be at peace after everything that has happened. It has made us more at ease.”
A bench will also be installed in Alan’s memory next to his cherry blossom tree in Thornhill Square.