My son was killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack. I beg you to forget the name of the Streatham terrorist

We must not fall into the trap of giving these deluded and evil people the air time they crave

Since my son, Martyn Hett, was killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack in May 2017 I have been actively campaigning to help prevent such an incident happening again. I am therefore deeply saddened by the terrorist attack that took place in Streatham on Sunday. The injured victims and their families are in my thoughts, and I hope they make a swift recovery.

Once again, I was inspired by the members of the public who came together to help care for those at the scene. Their actions, alongside the brave and quick response of the police officers, reflect the very best of us.

What continues to strike me, as the terror incident dominates the front pages, is the need to increase our focus on the resilience and solidarity shown by these individuals and the service they have done for our society, rather than on the cowardly and fame-hungry perpetrator of the attack.

I will not use the name of the Manchester Arena attacker who took my son’s life and the lives of 21 other innocent people. I will not give him what he wanted. Similarly, we must be careful not to glorify the actions of the twisted individual who attempted to take the lives of people going about their everyday business on a busy local high street at the weekend.

We must not fall into the trap of giving these deluded and evil people the air time they crave. It is natural that we may ask who they are and why they did it, but in exploring these questions we must be careful with our words.

The Streatham attacker wanted to destroy our peace and disrupt our freedoms. He wanted the world to know him. If we repeat his name and reprint his motivations, then we are fulfilling his final wish. Although it is not the intention, plastering his photo and every detail of his life across the media will propel him to an almost celebrity status in our collective memory.

Instead, when we think of this incident, and the other horrific terror attacks on our country, we must remember the names of those who lost their lives or were injured, and those who tried to save and assist them. We must talk of how we came together in the aftermath; how we carried on; how we supported one another to recover and rebuild. We do not need to remember the names of the hateful cowards who tried to tear us apart.

We all have a responsibility to think about how we discuss these awful incidents and the impact our words can have, particularly on the younger generation. After my son Martyn was killed, I felt compelled to speak to young people to spread a message of tolerance, positivity and kindness. When I visit schools across the country, in an average group of 100 teenagers around two-thirds say they have seen terrorist material online. It is critical that parents work together with teachers, youth workers and the whole community to combat the disturbing messages our children can be so easily exposed to.

While our response to the Streatham attack, just like others before it, was one of unity – a display of strength in our communities – there is more we can do to improve how we talk about it in the coming weeks and months. So I challenge you to forget the attacker’s name – and, instead, remember how the very best of our society shone through last Sunday.

This is one of the ways, I believe, that we can help stop such an incident happening again.

Figen Murray is the mother of Martyn Hett, who was killed in the Manchester Arena terror attack in May 2017