Family plea: Help us find Tom Kirwan's killer

The distraught family of murder victim Tom Kirwan today told how their lives had been ruined forever as they made an impassioned appeal to help catch his killer.

Mother Emer said her heart had been broken by the death of the 23-year-old outside Uberra nightclub in Wolverhampton two weeks ago.

Four teenagers were arrested in connection with the murder last week but have since been released on bail.

Today Tom's mother pleaded for those who know the identity of his killer or killers to come forward, to look deeply and closely at themselves and do the right thing.

"However hard it may be, somebody has got to say something," she said. "There were 600 people there that night and there's someone out there that is protecting this person.

"They've ruined our lives forever. My heart is completely broken.

"We appreciate that people have come forward so far and we give them heartfelt thanks, but there are still more people who know."

Tom, who lived in Oxley and worked at Bridgnorth Aluminium, became involved in a nightclub brawl on July 8 that spilled outside the Wednesfield Road nightspot.

The fight continued outside and it was then that Tom was fatally stabbed "multiple" times, detectives have said.

Other people were also injured, with some suffering minor wounds that needed hospital treatment.

Tom's fiancée Jade Elwell told the Express & Star how her life had been ripped apart by Tom's murder.

They had planned to marry in the next two years but Miss Elwell said she could not bear to think about her future anymore.

"The fact that someone is still out there knowing what's happened, while we suffer so much, is what's making us so angry," the 21-year-old said.

"No matter how small they think the information might be, we beg them to come forward."

Tom's murder caused shockwaves throughout the city.

Hundreds of people have posted tributes on social network websites, with a Facebook group called RIP Tom Kirwan attracting almost 2,000 members.

Many others have been in person to Uberra to leave flowers, cards and Wolves shirts and flags on the ring road, with the collection increasing over the past two weeks.

Tom was a keen Wolves fan who had a season ticket with his family for many years.

The Uberra nightclub has remained closed since the murder, with bosses saying the move was out of respect to Tom Kirwan and his family and friends.

Mrs Kirwan and Miss Elwell said they had been deeply touch by the many tributes paid by people across the city, many of whom had never met Tom.

Miss Elwell added: "I often go and look at the tributes (by Uberra) as I find it quite comforting.

"You can see how popular he was and the type of person he was. We've been amazed that people who we don't know have paid tribute to Tom."

A team of 30 detectives have trawled through hours of CCTV footage, spoken to dozens of people who were at the club and handed out 4,000 leaflets to city centre revellers to try to jog people's memories of the night in question in the hunt for Tom's killer.

Three 18-year-old men were arrested in Penn, Warstones, and Finchfield, while a 19-year-old from Merry Hill was arrested on Wednesday.

They were released without charge overnight on Thursday and will have to answer bail in September.

• Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 and ask for Operation Prose or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

By Tim Spiers