The campaigning mother of murdered Sophie Lancaster has died suddenly, just one month after speaking out over the jail release of one of her daughter's attackers.
Sophie, 20, was attacked in a park in Bacup, Lancashire, with her boyfriend Robert Maltby in August 2007 after being targeted because they were dressed as goths.
Her mother Dr Sylvia Lancaster spent the next 15 years championing people from alternative subcultures and creating educational programmes to tackle prejudice.
But she passed away at Royal Blackburn Hospital in a 'sudden and unexpected' death early yesterday morning, having suffered from ill health for the last few years.
A statement from The Sophie Lancaster Foundation paid tribute to her as a 'powerful life force' and for having 'challenged authority and fought for what she believed in'.
Sophie Lancaster, 20, spent her last moments cradling her partner's head in her lap as thugs kicked and beat her unconscious in Bacup, Lancashire. She died in hospital two weeks later
Dr Sylvia Lancaster OBE spent 15 years after her daughter's murder championing people from alternative subcultures and creating educational programmes to tackle prejudice
Ryan Herbert (pictured in his police mugshot issued in 2008) was 16 when he and a group of friends viciously beat Robert Maltby and Sophie Lancaster in a park in Bacup, Lancashire
Sophie died from her injuries after being viciously beaten as she cradled Robert's head in her lap in 2007.
Just last month it emerged that one of her killers, Ryan Herbert, would be released from prison on licence following a ruling by the Parole Board.
Actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Sylvia Lancaster in a BBC drama about the story of Sophie Lancaster, praised her as 'incredible'.
The former Coronation Street actress Hesmondhalgh, who was in the 2015 programme called 'Black Roses: The Killing of Sophie Lancaster', tweeted: 'It was a privilege to know and work alongside Sylvia over many years.
Julie Hesmondhalgh as Sylvia Lancaster in the stage version of Black Roses in 2014
'She was a force for good, for inclusion, for celebration of difference. Sophie's incredible legacy lives on in the work of the foundation. Love and thoughts to Adam and the family. Rest in power incredible woman.'
The programme was originally a Radio 4 drama before being turned into a stage production and then a TV show.
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Herbert was 16 when he was jailed in April 2008 after admitting murdering Sophie and assault causing grievous bodily harm with intent on Robert.
He was given a minimum term of 16 years and three months – later reduced to 15-and-a-half years on appeal.
In 2020, Herbert had his tariff cut to 14-and-a-half years when a High Court judge concluded he had made 'exceptional progress' in jail.
The Parole Board then announced on March 16 this year that Herbert had made 'significant changes to his life which reflected his remorse, his insight and increased maturity'.
'After considering the circumstances of his offending and examining the evidence for the progress made while in custody, the panel was satisfied that Mr Herbert was suitable for release,' a document setting out the decision said.
But the decision enraged Dr Lancaster, who said last month that the Parole Board did not consider 'the reality of the level of violence' her daughter had endured.
She also said at the time: 'The reality is obviously it's never going to be enough.
'He had to come out some time and unfortunately it doesn't seem long enough but that's the reality of the situation and you've got to deal with it.
'I don't want to waste any more time thinking about him now… Hopefully I can forget about him.'
Brendan Harris, who was found guilty of Sophie's murder and admitted the attack on Robert, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.
He, Herbert and four other teenage boys 'savagely and mercilessly attacked' Robert at Stubbylee Park in Bacup during the early hours of August 11, 2007.
Gap-year student Sophie rushed to help her boyfriend as he lay unconscious and shouted at his attackers to leave him alone.
Herbert and Harris then turned on her, subjecting her to a 'sustained and vicious attack' which involved her head being kicked and stamped on until she too lost consciousness. Sophie never regained consciousness and died in hospital 14 days later.
