Sophie Lancaster was attacked and killed in the UK, 2007. You might have seen her story on the news or floating around the internet. She was with her boyfriend Robert Maltby, when the two were attacked by a number of young males whilst they were walking through Stubbeylee Park in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Sophie and Robert both suffered severe head injuries sustained by their attackers stamping on their heads. Sophie is said to have cradled Robert Maltby while the men beat her and ‘jumped up and down on her head’. Police said that both Sophie and Robert had been so brutally attacked that when they arrived on the scene, Police could not tell who was male and who was female. Robert Maltby fell into a lengthy coma and eventually woke up with lasting brain damage. Sophie, however, fell into a coma which unfortunately she never woke up from. On 24th August, 2007 Sophie Lancaster’s family agreed to turn off the life support after hospital staff and medical professionals agreed that she would never regain consciousness.
What was the reason behind the attack? Sophie & Robert were ‘moshers’; Sophie and her boyfriend dressed alternatively which caused five young men to take it upon themselves to attack the two.
The attackers celebrated their crime after, telling their friends they had done something to rid the world of an abomination by “doing something good.” They told their friends; “there’s two moshers up Bacup Park – you wanna see them – they’re a right mess.” Thankfully, there were two teenagers who were also in the park and they stayed with Sophie and Robert after calling an ambulance and attempted to tend to the wounds. Sadly, it wasn’t good enough to repair the damage that had been caused. Brendan Harris, The Hulme Brothers; Joseph and Danny, Daniel Mallett and Ryan Herbert were all charged with Sophie Lancaster’s murder and in 2008 they all appealed their sentences. Due to his honesty, being that Ryan Herbert’s was the sole ‘guilty’ plea, his was the only appeal granted. His minimum sentence was reduced from sixteen years and three months to fifteen years and six months.
“Since her death in August 2007, following the horrific attack on her and her partner Rob in Stubbeylee Park, Bacup, Lancashire, we have had lots of kind offers of support and donations. Sophie and Rob dressed in their own unique way, expressing their individuality as creative artistic people. After consulting friends and family, we felt a charity should be set up in Sophie’s name. The charity known as the Sophie Lancaster Foundation will focus on creating respect for and understanding subcultures in our communities.” – Sylvia Lancaster.
It saddens me to know that I didn’t learn of Sophie’s story until this year when I saw a S.O.P.H.I.E wristband on a co-worker and asked what it was in aid of. Illamasqua is a high-end make up brand specialising in ‘make up for your alter ego’ which makes the S.O.P.H.I.E cause a perfect beneficiary for their fundraising; Illamasqua have designed four items which bear the S.O.P.H.I.E logo – the Sophie Smoky Eye Set (£50), the Medium Pencil in S.O.P.H.I.E (£5.20), Powder Blush in S.O.P.H.I.E (£21.50) and the Eye Colour Pencil in S.O.P.H.I.E (£15.00). £3.00 of every Illamasqua with Sophie product bought goes to The Sophie Lancaster Foundation and online there’s the option to simply paypal a donation of a pound from the Illamasqua website to the Foundation. Illamasqua sell the S.O.P.H.I.E wristbands as does the original Sophie Lancaster Foundation store, which you can find here.
It’s not just Illamasqua that has taken a role in raising awareness and funds for the cause; The ‘Sophie Award’ is given at the Bacup Film Festival for innovative and experimental film making. In January of 2009, Bloodstock Open Air Concert renamed the second stage ‘The Sophie Lancaster Stage’ and in June 2014 came the biggest honour of all – Sophie’s mother, Sylvia Lancaster was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for community cohesion, especially in the reduction of hate crime.
I’m completely shocked that something of such aggressive nature happened to a couple who were being nothing but themselves. It makes me sad that there are people out there who can’t understand that differentiation between people is good, and individual and unique. Causes like this, don’t make me want to fall in line, they make me want to be more alternative if anything. However, I am glad that the alternative sub-culture, has risen to support one of their own. I’m not too sure how I feel about the term ‘sub-culture’ – I feel like it makes people who dress more alternatively than others sound like something in a petri dish? Anyway...
After rambling a lot, the point of this post was to raise awareness and to express my shock that the attack even happened in the first place.
If you want to learn more about The S.O.P.H.I.E Foundation, you can follow them online here:
Hopefully they wont mind that I've borrowed a picture from the Illamasqua website.
Sophie_Charity (Twitter)
Sophie Lancaster Foundation. (Official Website)
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