The Murder of Sophie Lancaster

Reporter: Ask Rossendale
Date online: 28 July 2010

THREE years after the attack and death of Sophie Lancaster – the 20-year-old who dared to dress differently – journalist Catherine Smyth has written a personal account of the crime.

Primarily, the book is written from her own perspective as a mother of two and a local reporter living and working the Lancashire ‘patch’ where the crime happened.

However, it also documents the rural area of Rossendale where the crime happened, Bacup, the town’s history and the local reaction. Residents’ determination to show that the evil committed by the minority did not reflect the opinion of the majority and their efforts to raise money for the charity set up in the name of the victim.

“I never set out to write anything more than stories for the newspaper that employed me,” said Catherine, 43, who began her career at the Rossendale Free Press in 1988 and had returned to the paper in 2003.

“I have never been in a situation where the old reporter’s adage that, ‘this story will run and run,’ has occurred, but with what happened to Sophie, that scenario was so true.

“Personally, I felt a sense of outrage that this crime had been committed just a few miles away from my home. I have young children and I was shocked that three of the defendants were just 15 at the time this offence was committed.

“When it came to light that the only justification for the assault and subsequent murder was that Sophie, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, dressed differently, what happened became even more incomprehensible.

“As a friend said, ‘We have all been different at some stage, but does that warrant being kicked to within an inch of our life?’”

When Catherine opted to take redundancy from her job as news editor of the Rossendale Free Press, she decided to turn nearly two years of journalism into a book.

“I found the experience of writing a book cathartic,” she said. “I had a need to get my own feelings written down. When you do my job you are not allowed to express your beliefs or opinions, those are reserved for the people you interview; the subjects of the story.

There are revelations in the book. Catherine said: “I hope these will lead the reader to think long and hard about what happened on that night – 11 August 2007. Three years on and there are still lessons to be learned.”

The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, set up by Sophie’s mother Sylvia, has assisted many people to have the courage to stand up and declare the intolerable prejudice that they have been subjected to.

Out of the most horrendous evil a driving force has arisen determined, as the black wristbands proclaim, to Stamp Out Prejudice Hatred And Intolerance Everywhere – the initial letters of SOPHIE.

A third of the profits made from the sale of the book will be donated to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

The book is available from www.pomonauk.com priced at £7.99.

Locally, it is for sale at: Bacup News; Sergio’s Barbers, Bacup; Susan’s Stall, Bacup Market; Rawtenstall Library; The Deli, Bank Street, Rawtenstall; Lambert's Mill Shop, Rawtenstall; Stacksteads Post Office; Watts News, Waterfoot; Nisa supermarket (Whitehead’s) Deardengate, Haslingden.

The author is available for interviews or to write specific features about the book.

NB: The book is being made available via the Pomona website and certain outlets in Rossendale NOW but will have a national launch in late-September, 2010.