PURE TORMENT
Our son Charlie was stabbed to death at a party at a £1.5m farmhouse… if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone
Brave Charlie died shortly before learning he had new family members on the way
DUTIFUL parents Martin and Tara Cosser did everything they could to keep their teenage son safe.
Living in the leafy, rural village of Milford, Surrey, 17-year-old Charlie enjoyed a somewhat sheltered upbringing in a closeknit community where locals all know one another.
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And as he grew from a baby-faced child into a bright, engaging youth, his mum and dad were always sure to check where he was, enforcing boundaries when it came to late nights and friendship groups.
So when Charlie — two days away from his first lads’ holiday — asked if he could go to a party at a £1.5million farmhouse 20 miles from home, his parents naturally wanted to know who he would be with.
Yet despite their meticulous care and devotion to their son’s wellbeing, Tara, 47, and Martin, 48, were dragged into a never-ending nightmare after “kind and charismatic” Charlie was stabbed to death last July in a mass brawl at the bash.
Now the couple are campaigning for tougher laws against knife crime after his killer — just 16 when he attacked Charlie on a crowded dance floor — was found guilty of murder.
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The fiend cannot be named because of his age.
Martin said: “If something like this can happen at a house party at a farm — a farm, for goodness sake — then it can happen anywhere.
“If it can happen to Charlie, then it can happen to anyone.
“Knife culture is everywhere now and behaviours and attitudes aren’t where they need to be.”
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‘Hugs don’t feel same’
The couple spoke out after two 12-year-olds were on Monday convicted in another chilling case of killing a teenager in an unprovoked machete assault at a Wolverhampton park in November.
The attackers, whose identities are also protected by law due to their age, are the youngest UK killers since 11 year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were found guilty of the 1993 killing of James Bulger, two.
Moment teen chats with pal before UK's youngest knife murderers, 12, stab him
Their victim, Shawn Seesahai, 19, suffered a fractured skull, injuries to his back and legs and a 23cm-deep machete wound.
Shawn’s dad Suresh said after their conviction: “This world is a different world, kids are dangerous now. If we don’t pay attention to them, this will keep happening.”
Tara and Martin know all too well the anguish faced by Shawn’s shattered family.
Close to tears, in a moving interview with The Sun, Tara said Charlie, who worked in sports education with big brother Adam, died before learning he was to be an uncle.
And the couple admitted they are haunted by the fact their son died surrounded by people he barely knew after his closest pal left the party early.
They also told how they cherish a poignant recording of Charlie’s heartbeat and a lock of his hair collected shortly before he passed away.
Further torment came after Charlie’s killer was blown kisses across the courtroom by family.
Around the same time, Tara, Martin, Charlie’s brother Adam, 28, and sister Eloise, 16, were banned from wearing tiny badges promoting their anti-knives charity. Martin said: “In court, the killer’s mum was blowing him kisses and making ‘I love you’ heart signs with her hands.
“His dad was winking at him and staring at our family.
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“It just feels like it’s all stacked in the defendant’s favour.”
The crown court in Brighton heard how Charlie was stabbed during a ruckus at a well-organised party hosted by young triplets in Warnham, West Sussex.
His killer threw the first punch after he was asked to leave when a female guest complained she was being sexually harassed by him. Charlie was stabbed three times and a party-goer filming friends unwittingly caught the attack on her phone’s camera.
Jurors heard the killer accepted he had burned his blood-soaked clothes in a fire pit.
The knife used in the slaying was never found.
Charlie was rushed to hospital but died three days later.
Just like the families of almost 80 other young Brits killed by blades in the year to March 2023, the Cossers have suffered terribly.
Office worker Tara said: “It’s a sadness that will last a lifetime.
“There won’t be a breath we take for the rest of our lives that won’t have Charlie in it. Even hugs don’t have the same feeling any more.
“I wish I could return to the days when Martin would put his arms around me and tell me everything is going to be OK, but nothing is really going to make it better.”
She said even the birth of their first grandchild Albie, to son Adam and partner Jade, three months ago has been overshadowed by their son’s brutal death.
Tara added: “This should be the happiest time of our lives, but in the days after Albie was born we felt such sadness because Charlie wasn’t there to cuddle him and be an uncle.
“Adam knew Jade was pregnant when Charlie was killed, but was waiting a few weeks until Martin’s birthday to tell us as a surprise.
“Charlie didn’t even get to find out he was going to be an uncle.”
Martin described how their world fell apart when, on the night of Charlie’s murder, two police officers knocked on their door at 12.30am and said: “Your son has been stabbed and he’s critical.”
Cops drove the family 45 miles to Royal Sussex Hospital in Brighton, pulling into a layby as they caught the ambulance carrying Charlie.
‘Little boy in a coma’
Paramedics told Martin his son had suffered a cardiac arrest and they had managed to bring him back by massaging his heart.
Reliving the horror, Martin, a self-employed insurance broker, said: “When we got into the police car it started belting down with rain.
“I was behind the driver, Tara behind the passenger and devastated Eloise sat in the middle. We’re clinging on to each other for dear life and saying, ‘It’s not going to happen, he’s not going to die, he’ll be OK’.
“Eloise is shaking and at one point I’m being sick out the car window. We were all in shock.”
Adam joined the family at the hospital but it was ten hours before anyone could see the teenager as doctors worked to save him.
Even with stricken Charlie in intensive care, Martin says they struggled to comprehend what had happened, thinking doctors had made a mistake.
He explained: “Charlie was a good kid from a good family and we did everything to keep him safe and protect him. Last year we refused to let him go to Reading Festival with his friends because we thought he was too young, and he had to be home at night before most of them.
“We were probably stricter than most of Charlie’s friends’ parents and never, ever thought we’d be touched by knife crime.”
Clutching his head as he broke down, Martin added: “What we saw in that hospital bed was a little boy in a coma, with tubes coming out of him and blood coming out of the bandages. Nobody should have to see that. And for what? Because someone chose to carry a knife.”
Doctors first thought Charlie might survive. Yet he then needed emergency surgery, which was unsuccessful. Nurses cut off a lock of the talented footballer’s hair and recorded his heartbeat for the family.
Martin revealed he still wanders into his son’s bedroom when he feels low to smell his dressing gown, “the only thing” that still carries his scent.
In a heartbreak twist, the clothes Charlie bought for his first boys’ holiday became his burial outfit.
The family’s pain was amplified by the court process after Charlie’s killer initially admitted murder then changed his plea, meaning there had to be a trial.
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Meanwhile, loved ones were told they couldn’t wear tops or badges supporting their Charlie’s Promise charity — and Martin was even ordered to move his van with the organisation’s logo from outside the court in case it swayed the jury.
Tara said: “One of the hardest things was when this lad was found guilty and his barrister asked how many impact statements would be read out as he (his client) would need to listen to them.
Tara took it that it might be upsetting for the killer.
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She said: “I thought, ‘Is this for real?’.”
Charlie’s killer, now 17, faces life when sentenced next week.
Charity's promise on knifecrime
THE family has so far raised £60,000 for Charlie’s Promise, to educate kids and young adults about the dangers of carrying knives.
Martin said: “Knife crime is growing almost six per cent year on year, and what are we doing about it?
“Education is so important and schools need to start taking ownership. They need to get it on the curriculum and have families like ours, reformed gang members and doctors in to talk to people.
“Schools in more well-to-do areas might think this has nothing to do with their pupils, but this isn’t an issue that just affects inner city kids.
“Charlie’s death is sadly proof of that.”
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