Martin Cosser has spoken out about the devastating impact of knife crime following the murder of his son Charlie, aged 17, in Sussex.
Video courtesy of Sussex Police
Video courtesy of Sussex Police
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00:00Can you tell us a little bit more about Charlie?
00:04Yes, Charlie was 17. He was born in Guildford.
00:08I named him Cheeks when he was three weeks old.
00:11He just had that cheeky smile and actually it was a perfect name for him
00:15because he was so cheeky.
00:17Exceptionally funny and witty.
00:19Very loyal.
00:21Had a really wide circle of friends.
00:23In fact, since Charlie's died, we didn't realise how many friends he had
00:26and what's been really nice when you hear about Charlie
00:30is people say we just clicked.
00:32A beautiful, beautiful little boy.
00:35Charlie had gone with two friends to a party
00:38and he got picked up halfway down our cul-de-sac.
00:41And I watched him, and I watched him get in the car and shut the door.
00:46But yeah, that's my last image of Charlie walking.
00:50It was the last conversation we had with him.
00:52He was looking for a particular T-shirt.
00:54He had loads of Euros on the side
00:56because he was off to Zante with his friends.
00:59He'd just bought loads of clothes.
01:01His suitcase was on the lounge floor.
01:03What happened that night?
01:06How did it start for you?
01:13There was a bang on the door.
01:15It was ten past midnight.
01:17Bang, bang, bang, bang.
01:21I run down the stairs, open the door.
01:24There's two police officers there.
01:26So my first reaction is, where's Charlie?
01:29I can't see Charlie.
01:32Are you Martin? God, they know my name.
01:35Yes, I'm Martin.
01:37I'm afraid your son Charlie has been stabbed and he's critical.
01:42Their police car is sat on the drive.
01:46We jump into it.
01:48Eloise sat behind the passenger,
01:50Tara was in the middle and I was behind the driver.
01:53We were just holding each other,
01:55saying it's going to be all right, it's going to be all right.
01:58They eventually let us into the hospital.
02:00We got up there and we were greeted by another consultant
02:03called Alex and a critical care nurse
02:06who said we need to prepare you for how Charlie's going to look.
02:10What we were greeted with will stay with me for the rest of my life.
02:16He'd been stabbed four times.
02:19So he was really poorly.
02:22You can't prepare yourself to see your child.
02:27My little boy, who on the 28th October 2005,
02:31I was there for his first breath.
02:33I held him in my arms.
02:35I loved him more than words can ever say, unconditionally.
02:40And there I was, able to do nothing.
02:44I can't do anything for him.
02:47The terrible news came on the morning of Tuesday 25th July.
02:52When I say the terrible news, it was the start of the terrible news.
02:57He took us into a room and said,
03:00there's been a lot of swelling in Charlie's brain
03:02and we need to rush him in for brain surgery.
03:05This means you have to say goodbye because he may not survive.
03:09In fact, he probably won't.
03:13So we went to see Charlie and we had like 10 seconds with him
03:18because they said we've got to get him in.
03:20But we just kissed him and said, you're going to get through this.
03:22You're going to get through this. You're going to get through this.
03:24We love you. None of us could actually say goodbye.
03:26We didn't want to say goodbye because he was still breathing
03:29and his pupils were still reacting.
03:33So again, what should have been a 20 minute procedure,
03:36we probably sat there for three hours and Alex came back
03:38and he opened the door and his face looked pretty,
03:42well, you could tell it wasn't good news, put it that way.
03:45And we were told that when they operated on Charlie's brain,
03:49the brain fluid that surrounds the brain had been released so quickly
03:54that it caused irreversible brain damage.
03:57His pupils were no longer reacting and that he would never wake up.
04:03They kept his heart beating still.
04:05They did a tracing for us actually of his heartbeat
04:07and we took some photos of us just about being able to hold his hand.
04:11He had a little bird thing they'd given him
04:14and my wife had given him a cross necklace that he had around his hand
04:19and we played a bit of music in the background
04:22and we all said what we needed to say
04:26but should never have been in a position, that position.
04:32And then just after 9pm, they said it's time, it's time now.
04:39And I held one hand and my wife Tara held his other hand
04:47and my daughter Eloise was to the left of me,
04:50just leaning over and cuddling him.
04:52He was covered in bandages and tubes
04:55but she was able to cuddle him one side and Adam the other
04:58and that's when I made my promise, the biggest promise of my life
05:03and I promised Charlie two things.
05:06One, that I would fight for justice
05:09and his death would not be in vain
05:12and the second one, the biggest promise I've ever made in my life
05:15is I would talk to other families and schools about the impact of knife crime.
05:21Tragically we know that there are other young people out there
05:26who are carrying knives.
05:28What would your message be to those young people?
05:32My message to those young people that are or are thinking of carrying knives
05:38is really, really simple and that is they need to think twice.
05:43If you stab somebody and God forbid kill them, you can't take it back.
05:50Carrying a knife is a weapon no different than to carrying a gun.
05:58If you're using it with intent to hurt or kill somebody, this is murder.
06:06This is a life sentence for you as well as the victim's families.
06:12Why would you want to do that?
06:15I don't understand.
06:17So what I would encourage anyone in a gang or anybody that's involved in that world
06:23to take a step back and have a little bit of a think about where they're going.
06:28It doesn't matter what your upbringing is. It's not an excuse.
06:32It doesn't matter where you went to school or where you live.
06:36It's not an excuse.
06:38You're in control of your own destiny as an individual and you have a choice.
06:43Everybody has a choice.
06:45You don't have to pick that knife up, put it in your pocket and take it out of an evening.
06:51You don't have to do it. You have a choice.