Anti-knives march marks murder victim’s birthday

Monday 19th April 2010, 2:30PM BST.

James Dean’s father, Chris, leads the Stop.Now march as it sets off for Town. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0953017)

AROUND 500 islanders marched against knives on Saturday in memory of a young man who was murdered almost four years ago.

The walk was organised by the friends and family of James Dean to mark the beginning of the campaign Stop.Now to try to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives.

The march from the Bridge clocktower to Market Square marked what would have been Mr Dean’s 25th birthday. He died in September 2006 after being stabbed in the High Street while on a night out.

His close friend, James Ahearne, 24, organised the march and said he wanted to try and stop something like this happening again.

‘If people knew the damage it had done emotionally to so many people it would have more of an impact.’