His last words were “I love you” – and then he was stabbed to death

Mikey Roynon was proudly wearing his new tracksuit and trainers – bought for him by his mother to mark the start of his GCSE exams – as he skipped down the steps of the building while at home in Kingswood, near Bristol.

The 16-year-old had said he was going to Nando’s with some friends and his mother, Hayley Ryall, was going to Birmingham for a work event, so Mickey spent the first night with friends.

“I saw him coming down and I smiled and said, ‘You look so handsome,'” Ms. Ryall told independent. “He smiled too and then as he walked out the door he turned around and said ‘I love you’.

“That’s what I remember from the last time I saw him.”

Hours later, 16-year-old Mickey was stabbed to death in the neck with a zombie knife at his 16th birthday party in Bath.

Ms Ryall, a consultant at Slimming World, knew something was wrong when she noticed 37 missed calls on her phone, mostly from Mikey. But little does she know, her whole world is about to collapse.

“Mike’s friends called me on their cell phones and when I called back they said he had been stabbed and then left,” she said.

“At first I couldn’t – I didn’t – believe it. I sent my friend to a nearby hospital to look for him and asked another friend to drive me to Bath. But when I arrived I found he had failed to make it to the hospital .

“I saw on the address [of the house party] There was a forensic tent and police officers in white suits moved around. A police officer told me what happened and said I should go home. I was stunned. I can’t explain this feeling. “

That night was the beginning of devastating moments for Mickey’s mother.

She spent the next nine months burying her son and reliving the night of his death during a five-week trial that ended with one teen being convicted of murder and two others found guilty of manslaughter.

“This is the best we can get,” Ms. Riel said of the verdict.

“A boy was found guilty of murder and that was my main focus. I thought it wouldn’t make a difference, but it actually made a huge difference and made me feel like we got justice for Mikey.”

The trial heard that Mickey was stabbed in the neck when a disturbance broke out in the back garden as he went to a party with a group of friends. He collapsed in the front driveway and later died.

Mickey did not know the convicted boys, who arrived at the party on a bus from Wiltshire. CCTV footage from the bus showed what detectives said was a large knife stuck in one of their trousers.

One of the boys admitted stabbing Mickey but said it was part of an act of self-defence – a claim the jury rejected in its verdict, finding him guilty of murder.

Jurors heard two other boys, who were also armed with knives, were also charged with responsibility for the attack and both were found guilty of manslaughter.

“I don’t believe they knew who they were doing this to – I don’t believe they even knew Mitch,” Ms Ryall said. “All the boys [including Mikey] With the balaclava on, I don’t think you can tell who’s who.

“I’m so angry at them because they caused so much pain. McGee meant the world to me and I miss him every day.”

Since her son’s death, Ms Ryall said her life had been “terrible”.

The teenager had two GCSE exams to sit when he was killed. When his mother received his results a few weeks later, she took them to his grave at Kingswood Cemetery to open them with his friends. The test scores he took ranged from 4 to 6.

“I wanted him to see how good he was doing,” she said.

Mickey was buried at a well-attended funeral wearing a replacement tracksuit that had been purchased for him before his death.

Now, following the trial, Ms Ryall is focusing her attention on Mikey’s World, an organization set up in his name to combat local knife crime. The company is also distributing hemostasis kits – a bag containing items such as bandages to stop bleeding and injuries such as stab wounds – in pubs, sports clubs and halls, with more than 120 so far.

The group has raised a total of £20,000 and will soon be registered as a charity.

Mickey’s death was one of a series of fatal stabbings of teenagers in the Bath and Bristol area. A month before Mickey was stabbed, 18-year-old Ben Moncreiff was killed outside a McDonald’s in Bath city center and the local council has now set up a taskforce to tackle knife crime.

In Bristol, teenagers Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were stabbed to death in January. A month later, 16-year-old Darian Williams was also killed in a stabbing.

Ms Ryall said: “Had I known my son was going to that party I would have said no. There are so many young people carrying knives everywhere.

“I’m not sure if it’s a gang issue, or if it’s a whole postcode issue – but if you have a party and you have a lot of different groups of friends coming together, there’s a danger.

“Mike was really excited but he didn’t stand a chance. We all need to do more to stamp out this. Tougher sentences, better support. Too many lives have been lost.”

The latest data Ministry of Justice figures show that 26% of knife offenses committed by under-18s in the year to September 2023 were subject to a reprimand, caution or youth caution.

Eight percent resulted in an immediate sentence.

Locally, Avon and Somerset Police have been working with Bath and North East Somerset Council and other agencies to try to keep young people away from crime.

The organizations have also held public events with parents to help them keep their children safe, three of which have been held at local schools in the past month.

Detective Inspector Mark Newbury, senior investigating officer, said: “Our communities are also key and we encourage parents to talk to their children about knife crime to ensure they understand the dire consequences that carrying a knife can have and if They’re worried about reporting someone they know is carrying a knife.”

The three boys convicted of killing Mikey will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on May 3.