Editor’s comment: Don’t listen to me - listen to Elyon’s dad
Elyon Poku's father Tony and his brother Kofi Baafi. Picture: EMMA BARTHOLOMEW - Credit: Emma Bartholomew
It is easy for me to sit at a desk and say that anyone who has information about Elyon Poku’s death should come forward.
But the reality will be very different, with potentially much higher stakes, for the person or people who are actually in a position to help. They may be concerned about being identified; about retribution; about loyalty.
It is easy for me to point readers to Crimestoppers, the independent charity that has been taking anonymous tip-offs since 1988 and never given up a source, or Fearless, the spin-off it launched more recently for young people.
It is easy for me to talk about doing the right thing, about assuaging your conscience, about how protecting killers is not a good life choice, about how it isn't your fault if someone you know has done something bad.
The truth is that I don't know what might be stopping people from coming forward with information about Elyon Poku's murder so it is easy for me to talk in general terms.
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But one person who is not finding this easy is Elyon's heartbroken father. You can see him in happier times, holding Elyon as a toddler - clearly full of pride, and not suspecting for a moment how awfully and prematurely his little boy's life will end.
Anthony Poku has been, he says, living with a vacuum in his life since his son's murder.
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No information you have can bring Elyon back, though of course it could bring some closure for his family.
But you might be able to stop this trauma happening to someone else - even to someone you know.
It isn't for me to tell you what you should or shouldn't do - I don't know what pressures and circumstances you have to consider. All I can do is ask you to read our interview with Elyon's grieving dad, and make your own mind up.
