Families of victims who died in Brixton Academy crush say they will ‘never stop’ in search for justice
The young sons of a woman who died in a crowd crush at the O2 Academy in Brixton are starting to ask: “Where is my mum?”
Rebecca Ikumelo’s boys, aged five and seven, are beginning to realise their mother isn’t coming home, her family members have said.
Ms Ikumelo, 33, of Newham, east London, and security worker Gaby Hutchinson, 23, of Gravesend, Kent, who was on duty at the south London venue, both died days after being hurt when ticketless fans tried to get into a show by Nigerian Afrobeats artist Asake in December.
A 21-year-old woman is still seriously ill in hospital.
Their grieving families are searching for answers as to how the crush happened and have now appealed to the public to help with a police criminal investigation into the deadly incident.
‘They are really feeling their mum’s absence’
Ms Ikumelo’s father, Anthony, said the family wanted to see a basic sense of “compassion” and “respect” from everyone involved to aid the investigation into what went wrong on 15 December.
Organising more concerts and events instead – while there are still safety concerns – would be a “further slap” to the relatives, he added.
Anthony Ikumelo, 63, father, and Wale Ikumelo, 31, brother, of Rebecca Ikumelo, 33
Mr Ikumelo added one of the reasons his daughter died was “greed” and lamented the lack of safety measures on the day.
He said: “It feels like greed is one of the reasons why my daughter died and why all the things that should have been in place for safety were not there.
“This is why everyone should be working with us, from the government down, to find out what happened and to prevent it from happening again.
“We want those responsible prosecuted and eventually we want the government to make sure this will not happen to another family again.”
Rebecca Ikumelo of Newham. Pic: Met Police
Yetunde Olodo said Ms Ikumelo’s young sons – her grandsons – are missing their mum.
She explained: “They don’t understand what is happening but I am sure they are really feeling their mum’s absence.”
Questions over safety and security need to be answered, according to Ms Ikumelo’s aunt Mary, who said it was “a stampede and it is not the first time this has happened in the UK”.
She said extra safety measures should be put in place at future events.
She added: “We are very angry and upset.
“The people who think that maybe they are going to get away with this – they need to be scared because we will never stop as a family until justice prevails.”
Sale of ‘dodgy’ tickets contributed to tragedy
The other victim of the crush was 23-year-old security worker Gaby Hutchinson and her family also have many unanswered questions.
“Why was she inside? Why was there so many people? Why were there so many people turning up? The venue was full and you have got people outside wanting to get in,” said her mother Chris.
Her daughter was “trained to walk around the [venue’s] perimeter and that was it,” she added.
Gaby Hutchinson died whilst working at the event
While Ms Hutchinson’s sister Nina said: “She did not die because of an accident like a car accident. She died at work and that should not have happened.”
She added: “I hope that for the people who were selling supposedly dodgy tickets that was worth it to them because ultimately it is [part of] what led to my sister’s death.
“There would not have been that excess of people there who did not have tickets, if you did not do that.”
The family feel “fear” of concerts and similar events ever since Ms Hutchinson’s death, her sister added, and they now tried to avoid crowds.
Chris Hutchinson, 60, mother, and Nina Hutchinson, 32, sister, of Gaby Hutchinson, 23, who died following a crowd crush outside an Asake concert at the Brixton O2 Academy in London
Police investigation update
Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney said the criminal investigation was under way and potential offences being looked into included “corporate manslaughter, criminal negligence manslaughter… health and safety at work offences, along with violent disorder”.
Mr Penney said the police “are looking at every avenue to establish exactly what went wrong” and “have persons of interest” they are probing.
He appealed to the “hundreds of people” at the event capturing the scenes on their phones saying, “however insignificant it is, we want people to come forward with whatever they have”.
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Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’
Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.
In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.
The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.
In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade
Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.
“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.
“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”
Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.
But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.
Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.
The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.
Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy
While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.
“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.
“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”
In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.
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Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough
“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”
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In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.
“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”
Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November
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