Family of pub-attack victim backs poster campaign
Reporter: MARINA BERRY
Date published: 13 December 2010
THE campaign logo’s direct message about the consequences of drink-fuelled violence
THE family of an Oldham man who was killed when he was attacked in the street are warning people not to get involved in drunken fights, because it only takes one punch to kill.
The mother and sister of Andrew Molloy spoke out as they face the prospect of their first Christmas without him.
Andrew died after he was hit outside the Old Mess House in Yorkshire Street, Oldham, in March. He is one of 13 young men across the region who have died following alcohol-fuelled violence in the last five years.
His family are supporting a hard-hitting police campaign to combat alcohol-fuelled violence, in a bid to save other families the same agony they are suffering.
Andrew would have been 26 on New Year’s Eve, and his family are planning an emotional tribute by laying flowers outside the Old Mess House in the morning.
The brave family will go back to the pub later in the day.
“We will have a couple of drinks to remember him by,” said Andrew’s mother, Jackie (48).
“We don’t want to stay there, but that’s exactly where he would have been.
“Andrew would have wanted us to enjoy ourselves.
He was a wild card and loved going out with his mates.”
Louis Veitch is serving six-and-a-half years for manslaughter, and Jackie said: “There was no reason for it really. He (Andrew) was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“The fist is a lethal weapon. My husband was an amateur boxer and they tell them where to hit people to cause the most damage.
“He (Veitch) was a boxer when he was a teenager, you don’t forget.
“I just feel like Andrew’s out at his friends’ house, that’s how I try and think, every day.”
She added: “Andrew was amazing, always smiling, everyone knew him by his smile. He was fun-loving, energetic, he just loved life. I want people to think before they go out, to just take a couple of seconds out to think about what they are doing, because they don’t just kill one person, they kill a whole family.”
The “One Punch Can Kill” campaign has been launched as the festive season gets into full swing, and Greater Manchester Police have issued the stark warning that too much drink can turn a good night into a tragic disaster.
Jackie, who is married to Steven Molloy (53), has two other children, Carl (29) and Nicola (26) and has three grandchildren: Callum (9), Aleisha (3) and Paige (22 months).
Supporting the campaign’s shocking posters she said: “The one that shows the policeman with half his body in the road — that is exactly what Andrew must have been like after he had been punched. I hope it will have a strong impact on people, it had an impact on me.”
She warned young revellers to “get out fast,” if they sensed someone was getting aggressive.
And she urged people who felt themselves getting angry to think about the consequences of what they may do, and instead walk away.
Figures to support the campaign show young men aged between 18 and 25 are the most likely to commit and be victims of serious violent crime.
Greater Manchester Police assistant chief constable Garry Shewan said: “We’re not trying to spoil anyone’s fun but people need to realise that when you’ve had too much alcohol you leave yourself more open to becoming a victim of crime or getting yourself and others in trouble by behaving violently.
“It only takes one punch to kill someone and destroy the lives of people’s families. People who have had a drink do things they wouldn’t dream of doing when they’re sober and a stupid, split-second reaction can have devastating consequences.”
