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Nottingham attacks: Brother of teen Nottingham attack victim describes 'pride' that he 'stood his ground'
Friends and family are saying a final farewell to Barnaby Webber in Taunton, after the 19-year-old was stabbed to death along with a friend while walking home from a night out.
Friday 14 July 2023 13:58, UK
Key points:
- Funeral being held for Nottingham stabbing victim Barnaby Webber
- 'My hero': Teenager's brother recounts memories of sibling
- Father encourages mourners to 'be a little bit more Barney'
- Tributes read to 'belting human being'
- Student was stabbed to death along with friend after night out
- He was among three victims of the attack last month
- Live updates by Richard Williams
As the service comes to an end, mourners are shown a selection of photographs of Barnaby Webber.
Barnaby's mother begins by asking: "How do you follow that?"
She goes on to quote the late Queen as saying: "Grief is the price we pay for love."
"Until I lost [him], I don't think I really knew how much I loved, and boy, did I love that boy," she says.
"More than words can ever, ever convey. This not the moment to try and convey that pain."
She says she is "so very thankful" for all the memories of her son.
At one point, Emma Webber pauses in her speech about her "extraordinary boy", to pay tribute to the other victims on the night of the killings in Nottingham.
She promises her late son that he "will not be lost to us in vain", before saying "his ordinary is what makes him extraordinary".
Charlie, Barnaby's brother, has been addressing the service, telling those present about memories of the pair together.
He talks about losing tennis balls lost during the "highly competitive backyard cricket league" that they took part in at their home.
"You always loved to remind me of possibly you favourite memory of us, which is when I steamed head first into the glass doors in the sun room in an attempt to escape you closing in on me with a rather unwelcoming hockey stick," he says.
He continues by speaking about the role his older brother played in his life.
"You're the only reason I have the confidence to stand here today," he says.
"When we were younger, you were always the person I went to if I was scared of something or had a tough decision to make."
He talks of the day his older brother left for university, and says the only thing that helped him pull through was "knowing you were going to come back from uni, and I was going to see you again".
"Instead, I know I'm not going to see you again, at least not here," he says.
"The only thing that gets me through those sleepless nights now is a quote you once said to me, and probably everyone else in this room, and came from the person you probably looked up to most.
"'Quit? Don't quit. Noodles? Don't noodles. You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There is a saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it's called the present."
He says he could have made a list of "a million people who would die before you would", before talking of the bond the brothers shared.
"You'll have to do a lot more than this to break that bond," he says.
"You can run to the ends of the universe and I'll still be there and we'll watch Star Wars one more time."
He adds: "When I first learned what had happened, I wanted to set the world on fire.
"I was angry at everyone, angry at myself for not being there, angry at you for not running.
"However, now I realise that that anger is really pride.
"The pride I feel that you didn't run, you didn't hide. You stood your ground and died being the person you always were. My hero."
He concludes: "Bye pal, I'll catch you in the next. And to end this the way you would want, I'll finish with a quote from your all-time favourite film - 'Kachow'."
As he finishes, he receives loud and prolonged applause from mourners inside the church, before being hugged by his parents.
Barnabys father is now speaking to the assembled mourners, starting by thanking those present for "paying tribute to our beautiful boy".
"How do you start a speech like this, one that as a parent you thought you'd never have to make," he says.
He says he has been "besotted" with his son since his birth 19 years ago.
After recounting some amusing anecdotes about memories of his son, he says: "I'd like everyone to maybe think about how we act in our day-to-day lives, and be a little bit more patient and caring with others.
"Maybe, be a little bit more Barney."
A number of poems are read by friends and family members.
Among them is one called If Tears Could Build A Stairway.
If tears could build a stairway and memories were a lane we would walk right up to Heaven and bring you back again.
No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye, you were gone before we knew it and only God knows why.
Our hearts still ache in sadness and secret tears still flow, what it meant to lose you no one can ever know.
But now we know that you want us to mourn for you no more, to remember all the happy times, life still has much in store.
Since you'll never be forgotten we pledge to you today a hallowed place within our hearts is where you'll always stay.
Nathan and Ollie, two of Barnaby's teammates from the University of Nottingham Cricket Club, have been speaking.
They describe losing a member of their "family".
One says he was "one of the all-time good blokes".
His other teammate recounts story about Barnaby finding it "hilarious" to make other players run during a game despite knowing they were hungover.
"You will always be remembered, mate. We love you."
We are now hearing from some of Barnaby's friends, who are sharing their memories.
One says that when they first gathered in an attempt to write something, all they accomplished in the first hour was "reminiscing and laughing from memories of Webs".
"I never thought I'd see the day when so many boys come together, crying their eyes out all at once," he says.
"It shows the kind of love he inspires."
Another says "not a single day went by when he didn't make you laugh".
In a separate tribute from another of his friends, he is described as "the antidote to pain, the antidote to loneliness, the antidote to sadness".
One friend says Barnaby was "annoyingly good at everything he did", before becoming visibly emotional as he describes him "as a brother".
Another says he was "happy and mad, in equal measure", before saying "I will truly miss you".
Their tributes are followed by applause from those inside the church.
Another teacher evokes laughter in the church as he recounts anecdotes about the "truly wonderful human being" that the late teenager was.
He recalls one light-hearted memory of what he describes as Barnaby's "pretty poor dalliance with a life as a Kinder Hippo shoplifter", prompting audible chuckling among those present.
"I saw the CCTV, believe me it really wasn't subtle," he says.
"He admitted that he'd just been an idiot.
"I don't bring this up to tarnish memories of him, but such anecdotes go to show that he lived, he didn't just go through the motions.
"He tried things out, pushed boundaries, threw himself into everything he did, but he was also reflective and wanted to be the best version of himself."
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