Dec 23 2010 Flintshire Chronicle
THE devastated mum of a young dad killed by two teenage thugs says her heart ‘will never mend’.
Julie Garwell spoke out after her son Christopher’s two killers were sentenced to five years each in a young offenders institute for manslaughter.
Kieran Cunnah, 18, and 17-year-old Jordan Andrews, both of Blacon, were found guilty on Thursday of killing the 23-year-old father from Connah’s Quay by attacking him on Chester’s city walls.
Both defendants had denied a charge of murder although Andrews admitted punching Mr Garwell, of Bethel Place, and Cunnah accepted he punched him and launched two kung fu-style style kicks at his head.
It took the jury of seven men and five women at Chester Crown Court a total of 19 hours and 12 minutes to find the pair not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter by a majority of 10-2.
In a statement after the verdicts were read out, Mrs Garwell said: “I would just like to say my son has a two-year-old daughter, Millie, who misses him dearly, always asking where daddy is.
“Chris was also a brother to my two daughters Carly, who is 14 and has Goldenhar syndrome, and six-year-old Courtney and a four-year-old brother Callum, who he was very close to.
“He is especially struggling to come to terms with where his big brother had gone, asking lots of questions ‘why?’
“All I can say is it has changed our lives forever. It’s broken all our hearts, especially mine as a mum – myself and Chris had an unbreakable bond.
“My heart will never mend until the day I die and I am with my son in heaven. When Chris passed, he took my heart with him. All I feel is just emptiness.”
Both Cunnah and Andrews were sentenced on Tuesday. After the hearing Mrs Garwell added: “Whatever sentence was given would never be enough to justify the unlawful killing of Chris.
“However, the judge has made it clear how unacceptable this type of behaviour is in society.
“Our family would like to move on now and mourn the loss of Chris without distraction.”