‘Unless it actually impacts them, none of them care’- mother of murdered Ricky Hayden slams Mayor.

Ricky Hayden was murdered outside his own home in 2016. His death consequently destroyed his own family causing ongoing stress and PTSD to family members who will never recover from losing their son and brother. Today, Ricky’s mother and anti knife crime campaigner Sue Hedges has spoken to the Havering Daily about how disappointed and let down she feels by the current Mayor and the ongoing knife crime issues in the capital.

“When it comes to being tough on crime and in particular knife crime I really feel that Sadiq Khan has achieved nothing. Following Ricky’s death, many of us mothers who have lost sons to knife crime went to City Hall. He did not even attend the meeting to meet us, he sent Sophie Linden (Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime).

“All the bereaved mothers spoke about the issues we face and the changes we would like to see happening. We shared our views in the hope that someone would please listen to us. I told Sophie Linden that my Ricky was just another number, another statistic added to the list of murdered boys in the capital. She came up to me after and told me that she did not like that comment. I told her that we had no support, none of us mothers and fathers do. Our children were just one of the many killed. She told me to email her personally and that she would look into things for me. I was really pleased and emailed her the day after, three years on, I am still waiting for her to reply.”

Bitterly disappointed and let down, Sue openly speaks about her sadness when she hears of another stabbing in the capital.

“Every time we hear of another stabbing, we wake up and put the tv on and see another young person has lost his life to knife crime it hurts. My family and I know and understand the pain that victim’s family are going through. We have been there, that pain comes flooding back and we relive that moment and that hurt. It will never go away. All the parents of murdered boys share the same anguish, go through the same nightmare and have to re-live it every time another person is murdered.

“Sadiq Khan over rides all the questions you ask him as he can’t answer them because he has not done what he said he would. All these politicians promise everything, then when they get elected none of them deliver any of it. London crime rate has gone up and nobody seems to care. For them it is just another family but we know the pain that family is going through. Unless it actually impacts them, none of them care. I don’t blame the police, they do what they can but those in power clearly show they are not interested.

“I’m sorry but for me he really is a waste of time, he has done nothing for us bereaved mothers.”