Ross Parker

Ross Parker was just 17 years old when he was stabbed to death in Peterborough in September 2001.

Ross was a keen footballer who played for Netherton United and a much-loved son, brother and boyfriend, he is deeply mourned by his family and friends and remembered with great warmth and affection by all who knew him.

He was walking home with his girlfriend Nicola Toms along a cycle path in Millfield after finishing an early shift at a local pub when they were ambushed by a gang of around ten youths.

Ross was sprayed with CS gas, beaten with a hammer, kicked repeatedly and stabbed multiple times in the throat and chest with a foot-long hunting knife. He bled to death on the path.

The judge at Northampton Crown Court described the unprovoked attack, which took place just ten days after 9/11 amid heightened racial tensions, as a racist murder carried out by three British men of Pakistani descent: Ahmed Ali Awan (the ringleader), Shaied Nazir and Sarfraz Ali, who were all sentenced to life imprisonment.

His death devastated those closest to him and he continues to be remembered as an entirely innocent, bright young man with everything to live for whose loss is felt deeply by all who knew him.

Rest in peace Ross. You will not be forgotten.