Blackpool mum vows she will fight after killer's appeal

Blackpool healthcare student Jaymelea Hurren, lost her father, Chris Folkes, 36, when he was repeatedly kicked in the head during a vicious assault.

Mohsin Mohammed was 16 when he murdered his victim in broad daylight in a Blackburn park seven years ago.

Now 25, Jaymelea, who lives on Scorton Avenue, Layton, says she was devastated to learn her father’s killer was being transferred to an open prison, having had his jail term cut on appeal.

She said: “My dad will never see me graduate. He’ll never walk me down the aisle if I ever get married. My little boy will never know his grandad.

“Mohammed didn’t just take my dad’s life. He took a part of all of our lives and I just don’t see how he can get away with it.”

Jaymelea, whose four-year-old son Christopher was named after his grandad, grew up in Blackpool following her parents’ separation and now studies at Blackpool and The Fylde College.

She said she struggles to believe Mohammed, whose 11-year sentence was cut by 13 months at the High Court, has changed.

A letter to her from the probation office in Blackburn said Mohammed had changed from an ‘arrogant young man’ to a ‘mature and reliable adult’ who has shown ‘remorse and shame’.

He now helps others who struggle to cope with life in jail, and has spoken with teachers, students and police cadets about his experiences.

He completed a victim awareness course and raised £150 for flood relief in Lancaster.

Jaymelea, who met Mohammed at Lancaster Farms prison last year as part of the restorative justice programme, said: “If it wasn’t my dad, I’d probably say ‘good for you, turning your life around’. But it was my dad.

“I went through every level of emotion. I took my dad’s hat and glasses and basically interrogated him.

“He sat there silent and told me he did it because he was angry that he had split up with his girlfriend, and that he was showing off to his mates.

“I just can’t believe in my heart that he’s changed. He made a conscious decision to stamp on my dad’s head. It wasn’t a mistake – he meant to do it. He was 16. He knew right from wrong and he took my dad’s life away.”

Described by Jaymelea as ‘a computer geek’, Chris was in the process of setting up his own IT business when he died.

Only child Jaymelea, who works part-time as a support worker, said: “He loved computers and technology.

“He’d had a difficult start in life but he’d turned his life around. The last time we spoke he told me I had to go to university.

“At the time I didn’t want to because I didn’t think I was clever enough. It was actually him dying that made me realise I had to go there and make him proud.

“I don’t think the pain will ever go away.”

Jaymelea now hopes to raise £10,000 to help fund an appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision to reduce Mohammed’s sentence.

She said: “Victims need to have a voice in the justice system. Otherwise what is it there for?”

Her online fundraising page is at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/justice-for-chris.