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Floral tributes left near the scene of the crash |
TAG TRIBUTES TO ESTATE’S ‘WHELEY MAN’
Friends honour young father who died in moped crash
FRIENDS of a young father killed on his moped have covered walls in Gospel Oak and Kentish Town with graffiti in his memory.
Trainee mechanic Scott Laird, 22, died almost instantly in a collision with a car in Brecknock Road, Tufnell Park, on Friday night.
Youngsters from his family’s home estate have ‘tagged’ walls in the area with green ink, referring to him as “Scotty Malossi”, an affectionate nickname referring to the manufacturer of a part used in racing bikes.
His sister Lisa, 16, has written: “Hiya hun, whats goin on! God Scott what av u done. We all know you passed doin the thing you loved. Your lil sister.”
She recalled this week: “He said if he was going to die, he’d want it to be on the bike.”
Flowers, teddy bears and cards form a roadside tribute close to the scene of the collision.
Mr Laird’s mother, Melody, said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better son.”
His older sister, Shauna, described how she had been moved by the discovery of how many lives her brother had touched.
She said: “He seemed like a mentor to a lot of the young kids around here. Kids that got in trouble would come to him and he’d put them on the straight and narrow.
“I didn’t realise the impact he had on people’s lives. I didn’t realise the people he had touched. The kids are up there [on Brecknock Road] every night.”
Shauna added: “He was a good boy. He went to work, he worked hard. His motivation was his two kids and his bike. As a family we’re devastated. Numb.”
Accident investigators have appealed for witnesses to come forward. The driver of the car, a black Nissan, was taken to hospital but later discharged and is likely to have given a statement to police.
Mr Laird lived with his teenage sweetheart Kelly Casey, 21, and their two daughters, Casey, 2, and one-year-old Molly, at their Weedington Road home. They planned to marry next year.
Kelly said: “He did everything for me. He did everything for the kids. He worked six days a week. He was a brilliant Dad – better than most round here.
“At first he was a good friend but I used to love it when he came up to the estate with a smile and wearing his helmet.”
Tragically, similar scenes were witnessed just under two years ago when Mr Laird’s friend Tommy Winston was killed in a knife attack on the same street.
Tributes this remembered Mr Laird’s lifelong obsession with bikes. One friend left a copy of his favourite biking magazine Twist & Go at the scene, while tea lights were laid out to spell his name.
Among messages left on a wall in Agincourt Road by some of those closest to Mr Laird, one simply says: “Scott the Wheley man love u to bits I will never forget you love you m8 u will always live on in every 1 of us.”
After leaving William Ellis School at 16, Scott found work at the Town Hall sorting mail. His passion for bikes meant he often stayed up late tinkering with them. Eventually he was employed by a bike shop in King’s Cross.
In a moving card left at the crash scene, a neighbour who rushed out to help said: “I was on my knees beside you in seconds. I begged you to hold on. In them moments that you looked at me – I remember your eyes closing – as I knelt beside you I knew your pain was gone.” |
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