About 1,000 people took part in a march against knife crime following the fatal stabbing of a teenager who was on his way to play football.
Ibrahima Seck,14, had been walking with his brothers and friends to a park in New Moston, Manchester, when he was attacked on 8 June.
His parents, who previously said he was “funny, caring, and hardworking”, led the march near where he was stabbed on Broadway to mark a week since his death.
Karen Birch, who worked with Ibrahima at his school and helped organise the event, told North West Tonight the community was “devastated and in tears”.
Family handoutMs Birch said: “We are holding this in memory of him and of all the other youths in the area who have died through knife crime.
“We can’t keep putting a plaster over this and thinking that it’s not happening. We have to stop it and that starts at home, it starts with parenting, it starts in schools.
“We need basic skills bringing back into our classroom – what is right, what is wrong.”
Marchers gathered at the nearby home of a couple who had tried to save the injured Ibrahima after he asked them for help.
The teenager’s father led the crowd in chants of “I don’t want to die” after it was reported that his son made the remark to the couple.
Ibrahima had a 100% school attendance rate and had been doing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, according to his head teacher at Greater Manchester Independent School, who described him as a “lively, intelligent and engaging young man whose presence lit up every room”.
Two 14-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to their ages, have been charged with his murder and possession of a bladed article.
They will next appear at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday.
