'You think it won't happen to your child, but it could': Mum of Northampton's Louis Ryan Menezes pleads with parents to step up and stop knife crime

It has been 16 months since Louis Ryan Menezes died on Drayton Walk, Kingsthorpe, after he was stabbed once in the heart by Amari Smith.

For Louis' mum Cheri and her family, the pain of losing their 17-year-old boy has still not faded.

Every day, they remember their “bubbly” Louis, who went out that weekend ready to see his beloved Liverpool Football Club play in the UEFA Champions League and dreamt of being a motorbike mechanic.

But now, following Smith's conviction for manslaughter last week, Cheri says she never wants another family or mother in Northampton to go through her ordeal - and is calling on parents to take action.

She told the Chronicle and Echo: "Our family never get over this. It's devastated us. Not a day goes by where we don't cry."

"There's no way to describe that feeling when his little sisters came downstairs and you have to tell them their big brother is in heaven now."

During the three-week trial, Northampton Crown Court heard how Louis left the safety of a friend's flat to confront Smith on Drayton Walk on May 25, 2018.

Both boys were carrying knives when they met. Smith admitted it was "normal" for him to leave the house with a knife, and Louis equipped himself with one from the kitchen drawer before leaving the flat.

It was there that Smith inflicted a 9cm-deep stab wound that pierced Louis' heart. He died shortly afterwards.

Cheri said: "He didn't fall off his bike. He didn't have an accident. Someone did that to him. He was stolen from us.

"He wanted to be a motorbike mechanic. All he wanted to do was have his own unit where he could fix bikes. He was so good with them.

"We couldn't have been more proud of him.

"He had dreams. He had goals. That's all been taken away."

For Cheri, she has been left to turn the events of Louis' death over and over in her mind. The toughest question remains: 'Why did Louis take a knife with him?'

But her family's tragedy has given her a new insight into what's happening amongst Northampton's young people.

Now, she has a message - not just for Northampton's young people, but for the parents and adults of the town too.

Cheri said: "There are a lot of gangs in Northampton now, and kids roaming around. And a lot of kids are bullied and beaten up. So now those kids are getting nervous and going out with knives as well because they think they need one.

"But they don't realise the full extent of what it can lead to. It happened to Louis and it can happen to anyone.

"And it won't stop until mums and dads and aunties and uncles and older brothers and sisters do something at home.

"Until we stop and search our kids at home, and count the number of knives in our drawers, and make sure we know where they are and step in if we think they're getting involved with the wrong crowd.

"You might say 'oh that would never be my child' but it's happening right now. I would never have known Louis to carry a knife but I know it's probably not the first time he did. Because that's the way the streets are now."

Louis' family have never stopped thinking about Louis since that day in May 2018. On the anniversary of his death, a balloon release and get-together were held on Drayton Walk in his memory, and his family wore shirts printed with Louis' face to the game when Liverpool won the Champion's League this year.

But she doesn't know when it will ever get better.

Cheri said: "I'm never going to see him drive his first car, or get married or have kids. He had a future and it's been taken away.

"He was the funniest boy. His little sisters adored him. Everyone just mourns him with such deep grief."

Smith will be sentenced for manslaughter in the first week of September.