My son Benjamin Bolsenbroek was killed on the 6th of October 2013. It has been 6 years since we lost our boy. I love my son wholeheartedly and miss him dearly. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and and feel his presence. 

Benji’s death has not been investigated, and I have been denied the privilege of a fair trial to hear the evidence of what happened to my son. Benjie had 27 injuries mostly to his head and face, some of the injuries were still visible 75 days after he died and I need to know who caused those injuries. 

I have seen the CCTV footage countless times, I have seen what happened and yet I am still being told that nothing happened to my son in that fight. I will never accept that. 

How am I supposed to accept that without being satisfied that an investigation has been carried out or a fair hearing before a court of law. 

There are too many discrepancies, too many unanswered questions and vital evidence brushed aside. 

1. CCTV clearly shows the individuals fighting with Benjie, chocking Benjie and hitting him with objects snooker balls, glasses, bottles and stepped on his head with high heels. 

2. The MP Andy McDonald agrees that there should have been a charge and does not understand why not a single person was charged yet 9 people where found guilty. They where only found guilty for GBH and endangering the public. Not a single person was trying bee charged or questioned about the 27 injuries Benjamin had. 

3. We also put a complaint for to the police for failure to respond to the 5 separate phone calls that where made asking for help. There was no response from the police. We also made a complaint of racism because Benjie was half white and half black. The Police did not come up with a conclusion but the response was that the investigation expired.  There’s been many cases where white young men are killed and there’s been many resources allocated and available to the cases. 

Recently Sky News and Evening Gazette and other news outlets published how incompetent the Cleveland Police have been. They failed in all departments including Failure to investigate and keeping citizens safe. You can find the article on the link below. https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/rudderless-clueless-cleveland-police-savaged-16985457

To conclude am petitioning for signatures for me to take to the authorities so that the police can investigate the case like they should have in the first place. Am appealing to mothers, grandmothers, young people to sign this on my behalf. As a community we need to take a stand against crime being committed in our city and among our children today its my child and tomorrow it could be yours. If the police can’t protect our children then who is safe. 

Thank you.