Dad whose son was stabbed to death says tragedy 'shattered family beyond repair'
18.06.2022 - 17:13
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A heartbroken dad says his family has been 'shattered beyond repair' after his son was stabbed to death in a random attack.
James Brindley was talking on the phone with his girlfriend as he made his way home the pub after spending the evening with friends.
He had no idea that this would be the last time he spoke to a loved one.
The popular 26-year-old, who had model good looks and "infectious smile", was never one to go out looking for trouble, Birmingham Live reports.
However, as James made his way through Aldridge in June 2017, the leafy Walsall suburb, he was met by two youths.
Exactly what happened next was unclear but James was targeted, out of nothing. His killer did not know him and had no reason to harm him. The fitness instructor was on his phone to his girlfriend, his attention was elsewhere. He'd drank water at the pub, so there was no question of him being drunk.
For whatever reason James was approached, the phone call was interrupted, there was some sort of scuffle as he realised he might be in trouble. Then he was stabbed. He managed to stumble a short distance before collapsing and dying, just 400 yards from his family home.
As the fifth anniversary of his death approaches, devastated dad Mark Brindley told how the lives of those closest to him had been irrevocably changed since that random act of violence cruelly took away his son and recalled the shock and horror of witnessing his son undergoing open heart surgery in the street before there worst fears were confirmed; he had gone.
It's difficult to imagine being able to find the strength to recover from such an awful experience. Mark, James' mum Beverley and younger sister Charlotte, who described her brother as her hero, have found a way to survive -