Charlie Cosser was just 17 when he attended a party and never came home.

Charlie had just started an apprenticeship at Charterhouse and was planning to go on holiday to Greece with friends. But Charlie never made it – not to Greece, not anywhere. Instead, he was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital after being stabbed at an end-of-term party by Yura Varybrus.

Charlie, from Milford, was stabbed three times in the chest at a farmhouse marquee in Warnham, West Sussex, while attending a party with more than 100 people on July 22, 2023. Varybrus stabbed Charlie, who was not known to him, when a fight broke out between them and two other boys on the dance floor after Varybrus and his friends were asked to leave following complaints about his behaviour towards a girl.

Charlie was rushed to hospital, and his family were woken by urgent knocking from the police at 12.30am on Sunday, July 23. What followed was a rollercoaster few days for the Cosser family, desperately hoping that Charlie, or “Cheeks,” would recover.

“What we saw will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Martin said. “You can’t prepare yourself to see your child, your little boy. I loved him more than words can say, and there I was, able to do nothing for him.”

Charlie succumbed to his injuries on July 25.

Martin said: “The impact on the whole family is immeasurable; the words do not exist to describe our loss and what it has done to our family. ‘Cheeks’ was the heartbeat of our family, cheeky and charming from the day he was born.

“The evil and cowardly act by Yura Varybrus deprived Charlie of a very bright and exciting future, and took him away from a mum, a dad, a brother and a sister who loved him more than words can say. Yura showed no remorse at the trial; he didn’t even flinch. He put us through hell. We had to see and hear things no family should ever hear.”

Varybrus was found guilty of murder and possessing a bladed article after a trial at Brighton Law Courts in May. His anonymity was lifted at sentencing on June 19. Varybrus was sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum of 16 years before parole.

To try and ensure no family suffers the same devastating loss, Martin launched Charlie’s Promise, a charity that aims to educate and fight the rising knife crime epidemic.

He said: “The charity keeps Charlie alive and gives him the legacy he deserves. It’s Charlie that gives me the strength to do it, and if even one person’s life can be saved, then that’s Charlie doing that, not me.

“You have a choice. It doesn’t matter where you are from or who you are; if you carry a knife, you are making a decision that could cost someone their life. Death is final, you can’t take it back. You don’t have to do it. Don’t do it.”

Charlie’s Promise will host Charlie’s Games on August 17, with team sports and an evening of music, food, and drinks. So far, the charity has raised more than £100,000 to fight knife crime.

For more information, head to: https://www.charliespromise.org/