"The amount of seconds it took to fire a gun has impacted on a whole family and beyond. And even so many months down the line there are still little things that happen that bring it all back to you... the enormity of what happened." The night it happened "I remember sitting at home, she had gone out to Goose Fair. I was sat watching telly... then I heard the gate go... as I peeked through the binds I knew something was wrong from the look on her friends face." | "I want for people to realise the impact of any kind of violent crime... I want peope to realise that it doesn't have to be this way." | | Paula Platt, Danielle's mother |
"When she told me that Danielle had been shot I remember dragging my shoes on and running out of the house... frantically trying to dial for an ambulance." "She was lying there. The wound itself was so small, there was no blood, it wasn't messy at all but she was in and out of conciousness and just based on that I knew it was more serious than I was telling her." "She was saying that she felt like she was dying and kept saying 'no you're not it's just a flesh wound'." "I genuinely believed that she'd be okay. I got to see her in the resuscitation wing before they took her to theatre. I spoke to her and I said that I loved her and I would be waiting for her to come back. That was the last time I saw her alive." Life without Danielle "Every single thing that you think about, you could be having a cup of tea and thinking about nothing, I always end up coming back to Danielle and what happened. This morning I started thinking about her funeral... the night she died... that happens every single day."  | | Paula reads tributes to Danielle |
"All the children have been affected. The younger one still asks questions about Danielle. At three years old she is saying things like she wants to die as well so she can bring Danielle back. My older boy, he's ten, he had a pair of Danielle's trainers. He's absolutely worn them out as he didn't want to take them off... it's little things." "It just feels very cruel that she's been snatched away. It wasn't as if she had become ill and we had had time to prepare for the fact that she might pass away. It was just sudden and that was very difficult to come to terms with." "I've got a good family and a good group of friends, fantastic support from my husband, my children are the reason I get up in the morning because there are some days I just stay in my pyjamas all day... my faith as well." Justice "I think conscience is a big thing... I think that the people who are responsible for this... whenever they look in the mirror I want Danielle's face to haunt them for eternity." The future "I don't want her death to be in vain... I want for people to realise the impact of any kind of violent crime... I want peope to realise that it doesn't have to be this way." Listen to our with Paula Platt (interview recorded before the end of the Danielle Beccan murder trial).
Interview : Paula Platt > Audio and Video links on this page require Realplayer
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