Sophie - Battling for good citizenship

Reporter: Ask Rossendale
Date online: 30/04/2008

Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, were attacked in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, in August last year because of the way they were dressed.
Jailing her teenage two killers for life, Judge Anthony Russell said the couple were specifically targeted because of their appearance.

He said he recognised it as a hate crime without Parliament having to tell him to do so, and had included that view in his sentencing.

But friends and family of Sophie and her boyfriend, Robert, have vowed to go on campaigning for a wider-ranging recognition of hate crime motives. The campaign, called SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice and Hatred Everywhere), wants to see the law changed to reflect the views of the judge in this case, across the country.

Sophie Lancaster, 20, and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, 21, were attacked in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, in August last year because of the way they were dressed.

Sophie, a former pupil at Haslingden High School, was well known for her bright dreadlocks and facial piercings.

Sophie's mother, youth worker Sylvia Lancaster said she still believed new laws were needed to tackle hate crime committed because of a person's clothing or style.

She said: "It was the fact that Sophie and Robert were dressed the way they were and that they were with a gang of young people who were dressed differently that they were singled out. What we want to try and do is widen the Hate Crime Bill to include young people from different sub cultures or who dress differently."

Brendan Harris, 15, of Spring Terrace, Bacup, who was convicted of Sophie's murder after a trial last month, was ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years.

Ryan Herbert, 16, of Rossendale Crescent, Bacup, who admitted murder, received a 16-year tariff. 

A ROCK band from the Valley raised more than £500 for Sophie Lancaster's memorial fund.

Dear Superstar - made up of Micky Satiar, Amadeus Fontaine and Adam Smethurst, all of Rawtenstall, Benj Ashmead, from Haslingden, and Stew Milton, of Bury - played Sophie's memorial gig at a packed Bacup Football Club on Saturday night