The family of Adam Ellison have spoken about their fight for justice ahead of a new BBC One documentary which focuses on his unsolved murder.
Adam died in the early hours of Saturday, November 4, 2017, after being attacked in Market Place, Prescot, following an altercation with two men who were onboard a scrambler bike. During the altercation, the 29-year-old was stabbed in the neck with an unknown weapon, causing him to fall to the ground.
Friends and a number of passers-by went to his aid and called 999 as the offenders rode off in the direction of a Tesco supermarket, but Adam was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after 2am. His killers have never been caught.
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A new 30 minute documentary on BBC One called 'Our Adam' will focus on the former St Helens College student's case, as his family continue to raise awareness in the hope they can finally get justice. In one part of the programme Adam's mum, Joyce Ellison, reveals the last words her son said to her before he was killed.
She said: “The last thing he said to me was ‘love you mum’ and I said ‘love you Adam’ and that was the last time I heard his voice." Adam's family spoke to the ECHO ahead of the programme airing on Monday, March 28.
Adam's sister, Nicola Moore, said the family have had " no justice" and they hope the documentary will help get them that. Speaking to ECHO she said: "We have done this BBC documentary to put it out there that we have had no justice. It's really hard because knife crime is on the up and I have put it down as an epidemic. I have said it before and I will say it again, it's an epidemic.
"I have got two teenage children and I am terrified when they go out but you can't stop them living their lives. If we can get out there that these things are happening and look at the life it has taken.
"He was amazing. When it first happened we were trying to justify what kind of person Adam was so it didn't sound like he was in a gang because obviously when the police first came they were like did he know? And we were like 'no'.
"He was 29, he lived in a cottage in a field with his little dog and his girlfriend. There was a few cottages and fields. He liked going walking, he liked going up Snowdon.
"Adam was going to do the three peak challenge, he did loads for charity. Just a lovely boy, well I would say a man, but to me because I am his older sister and I was old enough to be his mum, he will always be a little boy to me.
"He was just so lovely and loving. He didn't care if you were in Tesco he would come straight over and hug you, he was one of those kind of people. So we found we were justifying that he was this and that. So we want this programme to show he was that kind of person and look at what life he could have if you didn't take it away from him."
Nicola, recalling the tragic night Adam died, said: "Looking around the room there were all my aunties, all my uncles and all my cousins, my mum and dad, everyone was there. They said there was nothing more they could do and everybody collapsed on the floor.
"I remember saying can we see him? And the doctor didn't know what to do but we more or less pushed passed him anyway. So when we got in the room, it was me, my mum and Joanne, dad couldn't face it. And there must have been about 12 people in the room.
"There were tubes and my mum screaming and it is the most horrendous thing I have seen in my life because he should have never been on that bed. Even that night knowing he was going to be left on a cold bed and we had to go home and leave him was heartbreaking. Just heartbreaking.
"No family should have to go through this. It is not fair and a completely heinous crime, if you take a life it is totally wrong."
Nicola said she has a lock of Adam's hair so she can "feel a little bit of him". She added: "I have a picture of Adam on our fireplace with his little dog and I have a lock of his hair. Me, my mum and Joanne all have a lock of his hair and we keep it in a little vial and I have got it on the mantelpiece in front of me just so I can feel a little bit of him."
Adam's other older sister, Joanne Evans, said not only does the family hope the documentary helps with getting justice, but also to show how Adam was a "gentleman" and "lovely person". Joanne said: "It's hard to describe what you're going through because unless you're going through this, you can't understand it, it's not like a normal bereavement.
"It's not like you're expecting someone to pass or they have got to a good age and they passed. He was murdered and taken from us and we didn't even get to say goodbye.
"We want the documentary to show our Adam was a kind person, he would do anything for anybody and he didn't deserve to be murdered and didn't deserve that night. The documentary is showing he is a gentleman, a lovely person, what we call a normal person and a normal family.
"I want the documentary to show the true Adam."
She added: "As well as justice I want people to see our Adam was a good lad. He was kind, he was a hard-worker, he was a family man. He didn't deserve it."
Mum Joyce also said knife crime is "not uncommon now" and hopes the documentary deters people from carrying knives and how such crimes impacts families.
She said: "This has affected all of us as a family, because you think this sort of thing never happens to you because you're just a normal family, but it can happen and it does happen and there is too much of this going on now. It's not uncommon now, it's common and we need it to stop because there are too many people being injured and killed. For the families it's a domino effect, a ripple effect.
"I want the people to see our Adam and how he was. His life was taken far too soon and it's not right in the order of things. It should have been me and his dad before Adam passed away. I want people to realise and it's ongoing, it's never going to end. It's on your mind all the time."
Despite everything they have been through, Adam’s family are keen to keep his name alive. The ADAM foundation, set up in Adam’s memory works with schools to raise awareness about knife crime.
In the documentary, for the first time, Adam’s sister Joanne joins her mum Joyce in speaking at a school. She said: “I want to come and do it with you because I know you go and do them a lot and you’re really brave for doing it. I’m proud of you and our Adam would be too.”
After the talk Joanne said: “If it’s just the one child that is feeling that peer pressure to carry a knife and we’ve given that talk, and they have a little think and don’t want to be in that gang carrying knives, then the job’s done.”
*We Are England 'Our Adam' will be shown on BBC One at 8.30pm on Monday, March 28.
