By Alison O’Riordan
THE family of murdered student Cameron Blair have said that violent knife crime has to stop.
‘Whose family will be next to get the dreaded phone call?’, Cameron's uncle Aidan Donnelly asked while reading a statement on behalf of the Blair family outside the Criminal Courts of Justice today.
‘As a parent you pray each night your child goes out that no harm will come to them and that they return home safely. We also hope and pray that they do not cross paths with people who arm themselves with knives and are violent,’ the statement read.
Mr Donnelly continued: ‘On the night Cameron was murdered three people contributed to the hostile atmosphere which ultimately led to the senseless taking of our boy's life. Thankfully, they have all now been dealt with. Every time we now hear about another innocent victim attacked or murdered with a knife it affects us immensely. Whose family will be next to get the dreaded phone call? This has to stop.’
He said he welcomed Mr Justice Keane's verdict in Friday’s case and thanked him for his diligence in this and other related cases. ‘We also reiterate our thanks to Mr Justice Paul McDermott for his previous involvement in a related case,’ he said, also thanking the gardaí for their assistance.
‘We would like to thank all the neighbours, friends, neighbours, strangers and so forth who have helped us over the past 18 months. Your support has given us strength to keep going or, in the words of our darling Cameron, 'keep driving it on'. Cameron always had a positive attitude and although there is now an emptiness in our world that can never be filled, we will try to honour his memory by living the best life we can.’
