On the 13th September 2016, Ricky Hayden, aged 27, tragically lost his life to knife crime.

Ricky was born on the 14th May 1989 and grew up in Marks Gate, Essex.. Ricky has been described by many as a kind, caring, funny boy who would do anything for anyone and travel to the end of the Earth to help someone. Ricky was a very hardworking man, working for Havering Council during the day and Security work at night. He was valued and considered helpful by all.

On the night of the attack, Ricky was asleep in his bed and was quickly awakened when he heard two men outside (later found to be known drug dealers) attempting to steel his younger brothers moped. Ricky, who was only wearing his boxer shorts, and other members of his family ran outside to stop the men. Ricky, his Dad, brother and the family dog were outside when the attack occurred and were stabbed/slashed several times. On the way to the hospital in the ambulance, Ricky was given 3 blood transfusions and suffered a heart attack. Ricky was further airlifted to London Hospital where surgeons had no choice but to amputate his leg. He tragically died at 11:41pm that same night.

On the days following the attack, Ricky’s family were unable to return to the family home due to the amount of blood both inside and outside. The family were hounded by press and had no time to grieve. The whole community were in shock and everyone came together in his memory, lighting candles and sending flowers. The family quickly had to adjust to life without Ricky. Due to the autopsy and police investigations taking a long time, the family were unable to hold the funeral and say a final goodbye until a further 2 months had passed, on the 22nd November 2016.

Adding to the family’s turmoil, the court trial didn’t start until June 2017, almost 10 months after that tragic night. The trial lasted 6 weeks and 1 day before a final verdict was given. Ricky’s family attended every day of the trial, hoping for a favourable outcome. Unfortunately, this is not what they experienced. Although there were 2 males on trial for murder, neither were convicted of this. Only 1 of the males was convicted of manslaughter.

Since his death, Ricky’s mum Sue, along with the rest of the family, have been working tirelessly to raise awareness on knife crime. A memorial bench has been installed near to the family home where many members of the community still leave flowers and gifts to this day. The family have been fundraising to donate numerous ‘Daniel Baird’ Bleed Units/Kits in Ricky’s name to various organisations and schools. These kits are specifically designed to aid victims of knife crime. Sadly, they have already had to be used to save lives within the local area. Although, knife crime will never fully be eradicated, we will never stop trying to raise awareness of the effects that it has on those who have been involved. Since Ricky’s death, a documentary has aired on My 5 titled ‘A Killer at the Crime Scene’, which focuses on Ricky’s case. The information within the documentary has been taken from statements, police documentations, DNA and forensic analysis and includes interviews from Ricky’s mother, Sue.

If you would like to donate, please follow the link on the home page. Any donations would be greatly appreciated and could help save lives.