By Stephen Dowling BBC News

Anton's parents led the march through west London

They had come from as far afield as Wales and Cheshire - parents who knew too well the pain of seeing their child murdered.

Standing in the blustery streets opposite Ealing Hospital in west London, they offered support to Vanessa Hyman and Delroy Elliott, whose son Anton Hyman was found dead in March last year.

Anton, who would have turned 19 on Sunday, had been tortured, knifed and shot, and his body dumped in the River Brent at Greenford, west London. His killers have never been caught.

Though nine people were arrested, all were later released on police bail. More than a year later, Anton's parents, and their supporters, are still facing a wall of silence.

On Saturday, they decided to speak out.

Justice

The march, organised with the help of the anti-violence campaign groups Mothers Against Guns and Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA) was their attempt to try to break that silence.

Friends and members of the local community also rallied round, many wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a picture of Anton, and the slogan "Gone, But Not Forgotten'.

While organisers handed out whistles to the crowd, Vanessa Hyman took to the head of the march. Standing next to her was Michelle Forbes, the vice-chairman of Mothers Against Guns

Banners with Anton's face were carried by the crowd

She lost her son Leon, shot outside her home in December 2003. Again, his killers have never been found. She was one of a dozen parents taking part who had lost a son or daughter.

To clarion calls of "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!", the marchers began their long journey towards Acton Park, lead by a phalanx of police motorcyclists.

Father Delroy Elliott was near the head of the column, behind a banner bearing his dead son's face.

"It's been over a year now. People have come forward and said things, there's been no strong evidence. We're in limbo.

"We hope to get people speaking out,. What we've got to do is bring an awareness to people. Hopefully it will stop the gun crime and the knife crime," he said.

'Sad reflection'

He said he hoped the march would help convince "at least one person to put a gun down".

Clyde Gordon took to the streets as a show of support

Dee Edwards, one of the march's organisers, said: "I can't believe a 17-year-old boy could be so brutally murdered and nobody saw anything.

"It's a sad reflection of our society... we have to support Delroy and Vanessa, and all the other parents who have had children murdered."

Friends of the family also took part. Richard Davison, from Hackney, wheeled a buggy with a sleeping baby, amid calls for justice and the shrieks of dozens of whistles.

"He [Anton] was a good friend of mine. He was always smiling and happy.

"And then somebody just stabs and throws him in a river, he's just murdered like a dog," he said.

He said people knew who the killers were - and their inability to speak out "People are always scared to give information. "They don't want to be informers."

Minute's silence

Another supporter, Clyde Gordon, from Wembley, was even more vocal, saying he wanted to show that the black community did not want to be associated with thuggish bravado.

"There's a majority of blacks who don't accept that. We want them out of our community. We want to separate ourselves from them. They don't promote us.

The police are still searching for Anton's killers

"We need to get through to the people who know something about this," he said, as the marchers trailed past curious shoppers. "The mothers, the girlfriends, the sons and friends."

At one stage, the column stopped for a minute's silence, amid the hustle and bustle of weekend shoppers.

Eventually, the marchers turned into Acton Park, where a soundstage prepared to play a CD featuring the voices of mothers whose children had been killed.

After an emotional afternoon, Vanessa Hyman told the BBC News website: "I hope the message gets through - that gun crime needs to stop.