The Murder of Sophie Lancaster was a murder case in the United Kingdom in 2007. The victim, along with her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, was attacked by a number of males in their mid-teens while walking through Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale, in Lancashire. As a result of her severe head injuries she went into a coma, never regained consciousness, and died thirteen days later. The police said the attack may have been provoked by the couple's wearing gothic fashion and being members of the goth subculture.
Five teenage boys were later arrested and charged with murder. Two of them were convicted of murder and sentenced to life-imprisonment. The other three were convicted and jailed for grievous bodily harm. A memorial fund was established in Sophie's name, and numerous events have paid tribute to her locally, nationally and abroad. Plays, films, art and books have dealt with the issues surrounding the murder.
Read more about Murder Of Sophie Lancaster: Background, The Attack, Arrests and Investigation, Trial and Aftermath, Tributes To Sophie Lancaster, Media Reaction, Reaction in The Goth and Alternative Community, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words murder of and/or murder:
“Lizzie Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks;
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.”
—Anonymous. Late 19th century ballad.
The quatrain refers to the famous case of Lizzie Borden, tried for the murder of her father and stepmother on Aug. 4, 1892, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Though she was found innocent, there were many who contested the verdict, occasioning a prodigious output of articles and books, including, most recently, Frank Spiering’s Lizzie (1985)
“I walk toward one of our ponds; but what signifies the beauty of nature when men are base? We walk to lakes to see our serenity reflected in them; when we are not serene, we go not to them. Who can be serene in a country where both the rulers and the ruled are without principle? The remembrance of my country spoils my walk. My thoughts are murder to the State, and involuntarily go plotting against her.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)