'Let’s stick together and do this for him': Tom Kirwan's sister makes fresh plea for justice
‘He was one of our own – let’s show him that’.
The sister of murdered Tom Kirwan has issued a fresh plea for information over the death of her brother.
The 23-year-old was stabbed to death outside Uberra nightclub in Wolverhampton, later dying in hospital.
No-one has ever been charged with his murder.
This month, five years on from his death, his sister Martine Johnson, aged 34, has renewed a campaign for information.
She has had 300 posters published in Wolverhampton, pasting them on lamp posts and in pubs and shops in Whitmore Reams, Pendeford, Bushbury and Bilston.
A £15,000 reward originally included £5,000 from Crimestoppers, but this has since been withdrawn. However, the family say they could possibly make up the sum for the right information.
She said: “This is Wolverhampton, he was our own. Let’s show him that by sticking together as a community and bringing out the people who did this. It is half a decade now. People change, attitudes and friendships change.
“Someone knows something about that night and they have not yet come forward.
“The police need that information to catch those responsible. We need them to do that.”
The poster features a Wolves emblem, the team Mr Kirwan supported, and an anti-knife symbol.
A message reads: “There’s a murderer on the loose lets get the scum off the streets.”
The murder investigation is currently under review by West Midlands Police.
The force is, however, still appealing for witnesses to the attack to come forward.
Ms Johnson said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support. So many people wish to help get Tom justice.”
At Mr Kirwan’s memorial, by the ring road near to the nightclub, a Wolves scarf and flowers are present.
Posters have also been put up at this spot.
Earlier this year, Ms Johnson said the punishment for people carrying a knife should be the same as for those caught carrying a gun.
There were 654 knife crimes recorded between October and December last year – around seven a day – compared to 388 in the same period in 2014.