'Words cannot express the heartache our family has endured': Family tributes to Benjamin Morse after Arsenal fan's killer is jailed for life
"He was and continues to be the centre of our world."
These are the heartbreaking words of Benjamin Morse's family after his killer was jailed for life at Wolverhampton Crown Court today.
Ben was with a group of friends when he was mown down by 21-year-old Nidal Alboraiki in cold blood after an unexplained exchange.
Ben's mother, Gay Jones; sister, Ruth Morse; and uncle, Rob Hill, paid tribute to Ben, an avid Arsenal fan, outside court this morning.
They said in a statement: “Life as we knew it changed forever on 1 May 2017 when Ben was killed. He was and will continue to be the centre of our world. Ben’s innocent and precious life was snatched away and a life sentence began for us.
“No conviction or amount of time spent in prison will bring our boy back to us and will never take away the anguish and pain. Ben was a son, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew and friend - words cannot express the heartache our family and friends have endured since his death. We are left with a void that can never be filled and our hearts will bear the deepest scars, from which they will never heal.
“The wonderful and many memories of Ben, we hope, will give us the strength to move forward and we will do our utmost to keep his beautiful spirit alive by replicating his enthusiasm in all that he did and by emulating his incredible zest for life.
“We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to West Midlands Police for their unfailing work in obtaining all the evidence required, as painstaking and costly as it has been, to get justice for Ben. Their support throughout this ordeal - especially the family liaison officers - has been hugely appreciated.
“We now request some privacy so way may attempt to come to terms with our deep loss."
