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Jimmy Mizen funeral held in south London
Valentine Low, Evening Standard20.06.08
As Jimmy Mizen's funeral cortege made its way today through south London where he lived - and died - a picture of him as a child served as a reminder of a young life cut short.
Jimmy had just turned 16 when he was stabbed to death less than 500 yards from his home. Today, nearly six weeks later, the funeral of the devout Catholic and altar boy was held at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Lee.
Jimmy came from a large family, and as five of his brothers and a cousin carried the wicker coffin into the church, his younger brother George held up a framed photograph of Jimmy as a young boy in football kit sitting on top of a ball. George, who had "Jimbo" written on his arm, is eight, about the same age as Jimmy in the photo.
Jimmy's parents Margaret and Barry followed the coffin through the streets, and his mother wept as the cortege paused in front of the Three Cooks Bakery where her son was stabbed in the throat. He had gone to buy a lottery ticket with his brother Harry the day after his 16th birthday but was attacked when he refused a challenge to fight. He bled to death in his brother's arms.
Outside the bakery, Jimmy's classmates from St Thomas More Roman Catholic School in Eltham knotted their school ties around a makeshift shrine. Well-wishers left flowers, balloons and written tributes around a picture of the 6ft 4in teenager. At the church school friends formed a guard of honour as the coffin - draped in a T-shirt marked with the words "Jimmy M Team" - arrived.
The funeral service - billed as a celebration of Jimmy's life, with mourners encouraged to wear bright clothes - was delayed to allow his school friends to finish their GCSEs. The order of service carried a written tribute to the family's "shining star". It finished with the line: "Now look up at heaven, at the sky at night, you will see a star shining ever so bright, that is Jimmy... our gentle giant."
The service included music from the film Schindler's List. Afterwards the family conducted a private burial.
Jake Fahri, 19, from Lee, is charged with his murder and will appear at the Old Bailey on 21 August.
