ONE year on from the murder of Connor Tremble, his mother said the loss of the 17-year-old has “devastated” her family.
The teenager was stabbed to death by Will Blencowe in a “vicious and planned” killing after Connor started a relationship with his ex-girlfriend.
Friends and relatives of the popular teenager plan to gather for a remembrance service to mark the anniversary of the tragedy tonight.
A ceremony will be held at Shanklin United Reformed Church on the Isle of Wight, where Connor’s mum Lisa Tremble now lives.
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She said that after Blencowe was convicted of her son’s murder, she felt she could no longer stay in Oxfordshire.
She said: “It is still having a severe impact on the family – we’re absolutely and totally devastated.
“We have had to move from where we lived, we just couldn’t stay there anymore.
“I felt scared going out and it just wasn’t the same anymore, I had to get away.”
Miss Tremble invited all those who loved her son to attend tonight’s service to remember his life.
She has planned music, prayers and a video tribute made by his friend Lucy-Anne Cage, who has been fundraising in his memory.
In the video, a message to Connor, a former Blessed George Napier School pupil, reads: “You are an amazing young man, fly high with that gorgeous smile and enjoy paradise. We will live on for you. We miss you so much and will never forget you.”
Miss Tremble, who used to live in Banbury, said: “I just feel like I needed to do something because that day is so significant, as a way of remembering Connor.”
Following Connor’s death, friends rallied round to create lasting tributes to him.
Friend Marley Taylor Ward recorded a tribute track called ‘RIP Connor Tremble’.
By the time of the trial, it had been seen more than 12,000 times on YouTube.
Last August a jury at Oxford Crown Court found Blencowe guilty of murder after a 13-day trial.
The 21-year-old admitted fatally stabbing Connor in his flat in Fairacres Road, Oxford, but denied murder, claiming he was acting in self defence.
Connor, who has two brothers and two sisters, suffered 15 wounds to his chest, stomach, arms and back.
The prosecution said Blencowe, of Oxford Road, Banbury, planned the murder because he was jealous of the teenager’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend.
Judge Patrick Eccles sentenced Blencowe to a minimum of 23 years in prison and said the “vicious and planned” murder was committed “in a frenzy of anger, jealousy and hate”.
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