A rap record in memory of murdered teenager has been released to warn young people of the dangers of carrying a knife.
The track was recorded in memory of Jack Woodley who died after he was stabbed during a gang attack as he left a fun fair.
The song urging teenagers to 'put those knives down' was penned by 20-year-old Kieran Brydon, from South Shields, who performs as MC Rhyme.
On Saturday he met with Jack’s mother, Zoey, who also revealed she is expecting a baby boy in summer.
He said: “I do hope young people will hear it and it makes them think twice about picking up a knife. It should do because what happened to Jack was shocking. He didn’t deserve it.
“Some people think it is big and clever and then they post something on social media and think that is big too but it just makes them look even more stupid.
“I have done this to give the family something to remember him by and something they can keep.”
Kieran was contacted by Jack’s friend Allana May Donnelly, 21, who lives in Wallsend and wanted to do something to mark his 21st birthday on February 20.
She said: “I was devastated when Jack died and it made me want to stop knife crime from happening.
“I got in touch with the MC and told him what we wanted. It is about Jack and his life.
“He has gone into the studio to record it so it has been done properly.
“We wanted do something big so it can be shared and raise awareness.”
The Northern Echo launched campaign to address the root causes of knife crime after the ten teenagers who attacked Jack in October 2021 were jailed for murder.
The newspaper launched the North East Knife Crime Taskforce in June last year following the shocking deaths of three more teenagers in the region who died also from stab wounds.
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Jack’s mother, Zoey McGill, 37, from Newton Aycliffe, who is backing the campaign, said the record is ‘brilliant’.
She said: “Well done too the young lad. He has put his heart into it and it means the world to us.
“We need to see more education about knife crime using rappers who our youth look up to.
“It is probably the best way to get the message out there.”
Zoey met with Kieran and Allana at Jacks grave at West Cemetery in School Aycliffe where the family also let off confetti canons with blue smoke as part of the ‘gender reveal’.
Zoey chose the graveside as she said it was important Jack was involved as she believes her unexpected pregnancy was ‘a gift’ from him.
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Zoey, who has two other sons, said: “I am over the moon it is a boy.
“Lot of people have been asking about the gender but we wanted to tell Jack first so that is why we did the reveal at the graveside.
“It is hard carrying on life without him but he is still part of the family so we want him to be included.
“We have not definitely decided on a name yet for the new baby yet - but his middle name will be Jack.”
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