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 Penny Jan Taylor and Tommy Winston pictured on holiday |
‘I feel all my dreams have been destroyed’
Girlfriend of murder victim reveals her heartbreak
TOMMY Winston’s long-term girlfriend has spelt out the tragedy of his murder in her own words, telling how he dreamed of marriage and starting a family.
Penny Jane Taylor had dated Tommy, 18, for three years and saw him as her “boyfriend, future husband and soulmate but also my best friend”.
She described her pain to the Old Bailey as Tommy’s old school mate, Tyrell Anderson, was jailed for life for his murder last Tuesday.
Ms Taylor, of Dornfell Street, West Hampstead, submitted a heart-rending tribute as part of her “impact” statement, a message to the court which describes how a crime has affected the victim’s loved ones.
Ms Taylor said: “We had planned our whole future together. That’s what makes this situation incredibly hard for me. We planned to marry in 2009 and we wanted four children.
“Tommy was eager to start a family. He’d often say: ‘Pen, let’s have a baby’ but I was scared what people would say as we were very young. I am now feeling very guilty that I thought that way.”
Tommy, a telecoms worker, collapsed from three knife wounds on the pavement in Brecknock Road, Kentish Town, on January 3. He had been hanging out with friends, watching a football match on a large screen through the windows of the Unicorn pub in Camden Road.
Ms Taylor added: “Since Tommy died I can’t imagine a future without him. I now feel I don’t ever want to marry or have children because I wanted it more than anything with Tommy. So why should I have it with anyone else? I feel that all my dreams have been destroyed and I don’t understand why.”
She described how Tommy would rise at five in the morning to go to work with “a smile on his face”.
Ms Taylor said: “Everyone says to me I need to think about all the good times we shared but it’s impossible. Whenever I try to picture Tommy’s face now, I just see him lying in his coffin covered in bruises. And if I can think of the amazing memories we shared it upsets me thinking there should have been so many more. Last year, I went on holiday for two weeks without Tommy and I realised I’d never be able to live without him.” |
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