Mikey Roynon proudly wore his new tracksuit and trainers – bought for him by his mother to mark the start of his GCSE exams – as he jogged down the stairs at his family home in Kingswood, near Bristol.
The 16-year-old had said he was going to Nando’s with some friends while his mother Hayley Ryall went to a work event in Birmingham, leaving Mikey to spend the first night at a friend’s house.
“I saw him coming down and I smiled and said, ‘You look damn handsome,’” Ms Ryall said The independent. “He smiled back and as he walked out the door he turned around and said, ‘I love you.’
“And that’s how I’ll remember the last time I saw him.”
Hours later, Mikey, 16, was stabbed to death in the neck with a zombie knife at a 16th birthday party in Bath.
Ms Ryall, a Slimming World consultant, knew something was wrong when she noticed 37 missed calls on her mobile, mostly from Mikey. But she had no idea that her whole world was about to collapse.
“Mikey’s friends called me from his phone, and when I called back they said he had been stabbed and he was gone,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe it at first. I sent my friend to the nearby hospital to look for him and had another friend take me to Bath. But when I arrived, I discovered he hadn’t made it to the hospital.
“I saw it at the address [of the house party] there was a forensic tent and officers walked around in white suits. A police officer told me what had happened and told me to go home. I was amazed. I can’t explain the feeling.”
That night was the beginning of a devastating time for Mikey’s mother.
In the nine months that followed, she buried her son and relived the night he died during a five-week trial that ended with one teenager convicted of murder and two others of manslaughter.
“It was the best result we could have achieved,” Ms Ryall said of the sentencing.
“The only boy found guilty of murder, that was my main focus. I thought it wouldn’t make a difference, but actually it made a huge difference and made me feel like we got justice for Mikey.”
The trial heard how Mikey had gone to the party with a group of friends when trouble flared up in the backyard and he was stabbed in the neck. He collapsed in the front driveway and later died.
The convicted boys, who Mikey did not know, arrived at the party by bus from Wiltshire. CCTV footage from the bus showed what investigators said was a large knife in one of their pants.
One of the boys admitted to stabbing Mikey, but he said it was part of an act of self-defense – a claim the jury rejected in its verdict, finding him guilty of murder.
The two other boys, who the jury heard were also armed with knives, were also held responsible for the attack and both convicted of manslaughter.
“I don’t think they knew who they were doing it to – I don’t think they even knew Mikey,” Ms Ryall said. “All the boys [including Mikey] had balaclavas on, I don’t think you could tell who was who.
‘I’m so angry at them for causing so much pain. Mikey was my world, and I miss him every day.”
Since her son’s death, Mrs Ryall said her life had been “terrible”.
The teenager had two more GCSE exams to complete when he was killed. Weeks later, when his mother received his results, she took them to his grave at Kingswood Cemetery to open them with his friend. In the exams he had taken, he had achieved grades ranging from 4 to 6.
“I wanted him to see how well he had done,” she said.
Mikey was buried at a well-attended funeral wearing a replacement tracksuit purchased for him before he died.
Now, post-trial, Ms Ryall is focusing on a group she set up on his behalf, Mikey’s World, aimed at tackling knife crime locally. It is also distributing blood control kits – a bag containing items such as bandages to stop bleeding from injuries such as a stab wound – to pubs, sports clubs and halls, with more than 120 already rolled out.
A total of £20,000 has been raised for the group, which will soon be registered as a charity.
Mikey’s death was one of several fatal stabbings of teenagers in the Bath and Bristol area. A month before Mikey was stabbed, 18-year-old Ben Moncreiff was murdered outside McDonald’s in central Bath, where a knife crime taskforce has now been set up by the council.
In Bristol, teenagers Max Dixon, aged 16, and Mason Rist, aged 15, were stabbed to death in January. A month later, 16-year-old Darrian Williams was also killed in a stabbing.
Mrs Ryall said: “If I knew my son was going to that party I would have said no. There are so many young people carrying knives, it’s everywhere.
“I’m not sure if it’s gangs or the whole postcode thing – but if you have a party where lots of different groups of friends come together, then there is danger.
“Mikey was really excited, but he didn’t stand a chance. We all need to do more to eradicate this. Tougher punishments, better support. Too many lives have been lost.”
The latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show that 26 percent of knife crimes committed by teenagers under the age of 18 resulted in a reprimand, warning or youth warning in the year ending September 2023.
Eight percent result in an immediate punishment.
Locally, Avon and Somerset Police are working with Bath and North East Somerset Council and other agencies in an effort to guide young people away from crime.
The groups have also held open events with parents to help them keep their children safe, three of which were held at local schools in the last month.
Detective Inspector Mark Newbury, the senior investigating officer, said: “Our communities are also vitally important and we would encourage parents to talk to their children about knife crime – to make sure they understand the terrible consequences of carrying a can have a knife and also how they can report if they are concerned about someone they know carrying a knife.”
The three boys convicted of Mikey’s murder will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on May 3.