'Best friends together again': Heartache for Sheffield family as grandad of Harvey Willgoose dies
The mum of Harvey Willgoose has said that her son is now with his ‘best friend’ again - after the schoolboy’s grandad sadly passed away.
The Willgoose family has suffered more heartbreak than most, enduring one of the most harrowing murder cases Sheffield has seen in recent memory.
At only 15 years old, avid Sheffield United fan Harvey Willgoose was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil while on his lunch break at All Saints Catholic High School in February.
And only a month later, tragedy struck again, as Harvey’s grandad, John, was diagnosed with cancer.
“They were best friends,” mum Caroline said.
“He was Harvey’s best friend, they used to go fishing together, they were building a summer house.
“My dad couldn’t cope with the grief - he found out he’d got cancer just after and I said ‘this is going to kill my dad’.”
Tragically, John passed just a week before seeing justice served for Harvey.
Yesterday Harvey’s murderer - who’s now been named as 15-year-old Mohammed ‘Umar’ Khan - received a life sentence and was ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years.
Speaking after the hearing, Caroline said that she ‘feels he’s with [Harvey]’ now.
Following the death, she posted on Facebook: “Best friends together again now.”
During yesterday’s sentencing hearing, Harvey’s sister Sophie told the court: “Instead of resting or recovering, [John] came to court daily [during the trial] to seek justice for Harvey."
Caroline is battling to introduce new safety measures in schools, campaigning for the introduction of knife arches which would help identify pupils attempting to bring weapons onto school grounds.
This has already seen some success, with an arch introduced at Penistone Grammar School in Barnsley earlier this month.
At the time, Caroline celebrated the achievement, saying she was ‘really happy’ the equipment was being installed.
“My dad got to see that so I know he’s proud of me,” she said after yesterday’s sentencing.