Widow urges husband’s teen killer to ‘rehabilitate and dwell good life’
The widow of a software engineer who was stabbed to death outside Asda has spoken for the first time since the murder, urging his teen killer to ‘rehabilitate and live a good life’.
Ian Kirwan, 53, was knifed in the heart in Redditch, Worcestershire, after confronting a gang of youths for messing about in a toilet.
A 14-year-old boy admitted stabbing the Jaguar Land Rover worker in the chest on March 5, 2022. He has since turned 16 and is serving a life sentence.
In a searingly honest interview, Ian’s devastated widow Lyndsey speaks for the first time since losing her ‘best friend and other half’.
She told how Ian had popped to the shops to buy a new bathroom light switch and pick up some food and wine, when he was knifed.
Ian Kirwan, 53, was knifed in the heart in Redditch, Worcestershire, after confronting a gang of youths for messing about in a toilet
Ian’s devastated widow Lyndsey, 44, has spoken for the first time since the murder and urged his teen killer to ‘rehabilitate and live a good life’
Fighting back tears, Lyndsey, 44, said: ‘He was confronted by a group of lads who were messing about.
‘They approached him and a fight ensued and he was stabbed in the chest and died on the floor of Asda.
‘I knew something was wrong. He wasn’t even due home and I knew something wasn’t right, I just had this feeling.
‘I rang him and the police and checked the bank balance and nothing had changed. He just didn’t come home.’
The group of teenagers captured on CCTV around the time of the attack that took Ian’s life
Several teenage boys were arrested for his murder after a police hunt.
A 16-year-old boy – then aged 14 – who accepted inflicting the fatal blow was jailed for murder and ordered to serve a minimum term of 14 years.
Three other youths – two aged 14 and one aged 16 – were previously cleared of murder and manslaughter but found guilty of violent disorder.
A fifth boy, aged 16, was acquitted of murder, manslaughter and violent disorder.
Lyndsey revealed the pain and heartache of sitting through the trial and says she still suffers from daily bouts of anxiety.
She said: ‘Half of me died that day.
‘I shouldn’t know information about how you try to resuscitate a stab wound to the chest or know information about the legal system the way I do.
‘Nobody should hear these things about their husband, about their loved ones, ever.
‘Carrying a knife gives you a false sense of security.
‘If no one is carrying a knife, then everyone is safe.
‘I would urge parents to speak to their children, look for changes in their behaviour and talk to them about the repercussions of carrying a weapon.’
During the ten-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, it emerged Ian’s killers had met at Asda with the intention of robbing a rival gang at knifepoint.
When asked what she wanted to say to the boys who attacked Ian, Lyndsey simply urged them to learn from the experience and be ‘better people’.
She said: ‘The last two years of my life, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, even the defendants themselves.
‘[I would say to them] do better. Ian would want them to rehabilitate.
‘He would want them to be better people. Take a positive out of this situation, learn from it.
‘Finish your education, be kind to people and be kind to yourselves.
‘Have a future, travel, meet people, live a nice and decent life and live it to the full.
‘Learn from this experience.’
