Camden New Journal - News: Families of gun victims at Hip Hop premiere

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Camden New Journal - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 11 October 2007

Jean Ross with her daughter Lorene (centre) and family friends Marsha and Tamesia Brown (right) at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square

Families of gun victims at Hip Hop premiere

THE parents of a young father who was murdered in a King’s Cross nightclub joined Deputy Prime Minister Harriet Harman and more than 100 grieving families at the premiere of an anti-violence film on Tuesday.
Jean Ross, the mother of Daniel Ross, who was shot in the head in the Scala club last September, said she hoped the film would encourage youngsters to turn their back on guns and knives.
The film, Hip Hop Opera, which was screened at the prestigious Odeon in Leicester Square, was made after director Ray Stevens heard the stories of bereaved parents.
“The reason we are here is because of the grieving mothers sitting in the middle row,” Mr Stevens told the crowd.
The film’s message was to encourage communities to turn in the ‘gunmen’ – something Mrs Ross has repeatedly called for since the death of her son. High-profile appeals made recently, which failed to turn up any new witnesses, had left her despondent, she said.
“The police have finished their investigation. They’re waiting for someone to come forward and say, ‘This is the guy who did it’.”
Mrs Ross, who lives in Kilburn, said it was worthwhile showing the film to schoolchildren who still had time to turn their life around. “It’s important,” she said. “It puts it in the minds of school kids that this is what happens when you pick up a gun and pull that trigger. I just hope the government gets behind it because that will give it a bigger push.”
Detectives have seen their investigation grind to a halt without any eye-witnesses to the murder.
Introducing the film, Ms Harman said: “I know this is an angry film but I believe in its hope.”

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