Mum of stabbed teen Gordon Gault taking campaign to Wembley for Carabao cup final

The mother of a 14-year-old boy who was killed in a suspected stabbing in Newcastle is hoping to encourage people to come forward with information surrounding his death at the Carabao Cup final next weekend.

Young Newcastle fan Gordon Gault died six days after he was allegedly attacked with a knife in Elswick last November.

His mum Dionne Barrett is now asking fans to clap for him during the 14th minute of the Newcastle United vs Manchester United Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday 26 February.

She is also taking posters to put up in and around the stadium, in the hope of encouraging someone to come forward with information about her son's death.

Following the incident 20 people have been arrested in connection with his death but no-one has been charged.

Ms Barrett said: "It doesn't even feel like it's really him on the photo. It shouldn't have come to this at all and I just can't get my head around that's my child on there.

"We want to get Gordon's face seen and what bigger place to do it?

"I just want someone to look and think 'I know something I need to come forward'.

"I've still got this fight in me, and I need to fight for justice for him, I have to fight for justice.

"We're now three months on and I need this person off the street. It could be another child next - I couldn't live with myself."

• Video report by Katie Cole.

Gordon left his home in Benwell at 5pm on the afternoon of 9 November and went out on his bike.

Half an hour later he was stabbed with a knife cutting a major artery in his arm.

His family sat at his bedside for six days while doctors tried to save him but he died on 15 November.

Stacey Wait, a friend of Gordon's family, said: "Obviously I could see that Dionne was struggling. There's a lot of ideas that I had running round in my head to be able to help Dionne.

"It goes without saying she's drained, she's not sleeping, she's emotional. I thought that because Gordon didn't have a voice it would be nice for us as a community to get behind a campaign for Gordon and be Gordon's voice.

"We fundraised some money towards his funeral and then we just took it from there."

A printing company in Cramlington is helping to make the posters, which Gordon's family will take down to Wembley to raise awareness of his case.

David Coleman, owner of Drone Signs, said: "It will make a massive difference. There will not only be 32,000 Geordies there in the stadium - there will probably be double that outside the stadium watching it in the local areas.

He added: "I've got a little 11-year-old boy and that's something that I would never, ever want to see and seeing those pictures, I got goosebumps and the hairs stood up on my arms.

"If we can print them off and raise awareness and stop further pictures like that being out there in public, then we're doing a good job."

A total of 20 people have been arrested so far in connection with Gordon death.

Eighteen of them are teenagers - aged between 15 and 18 and two men in their 20s. There have been no charges.

Three children from the North East have lost their lives in suspected stabbings in the past four months.

Tomasz Olezack, 14, died in Gateshead in October. Gordon died the following month and  two weeks ago 15-year-old Holly Newton died in Hexham.

It comes as figures released last week from the ONS show the rates of fatal stabbings across the country are the highest since records began 76 years ago.

Death by sharp instrument has also been the most common method by which young people aged between 13 and 19 were murdered for the past five consecutive years.

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