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Heartbroken dad will keep Sophie close to his heart

Exclusive by Miles Skinner
28/ 5/2008

THE father of murdered student Sophie Lancaster will now carry his daughter’s face forever over his heart, as well as in it - thanks to a Stockport tattoo artist.

John Lancaster requested a tattoo of tragic Sophie a week after visiting a Cheadle Hulme studio which held a fundraising Goth Day in her memory.

Both parents surprised guests by attending the event, in aid of the SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere) anti-hate campaign, and John returned a week later to have her portrait inked into his left breast.

"I wanted to have a permanent picture of Sophie put there," said John.

"It will help me to remember her lovely smile."

John brought his favourite photograph of Sophie to Gods of Ink on Cheadle Road, and owner Mark Thomas tattooed the image of the tragic twenty-year-old onto his chest with black and grey scale shading.

It took just under two hours to complete.

The pair had met at the fundraiser organised by Mark and his wife Lisa the weekend before.

John and Sophie’s mother Sylvia had arrived to support the effort and join around 80 visitors raising money for the SOPHIE charity.

Sophie, a Goth, was kicked to death in a park by thugs simply because of her alternative style.

She died two weeks after the attack in Bacup, suffering serious injuries along with her boyfriend Robert Maltby, who, although he survived, can recall nothing of the incident back in August last year.

Lisa said: "Piercing and tattoos played a big part in Sophie’s life. John was thrilled with the finished work and we’re very glad to have been able to give him exactly what he wanted."

John and Sylvia had heard of the tattoo parlour after employee Ben Ashmead, member the band of Dear Superstar, had held the group’s last UK gig in Bacup in Sophie’s honour.