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09:59 GMT, Monday, 17 November 2008

Dead youth's web memorial abused

Tributes to Kadeem Blackwood

A memorial website to a Derby teenager who was shot dead has been taken down because of of abusive messages.

Kadeem Blackwood, 15, was shot in the chest on 11 November in the Sunnyhill area while walking with friends.

Founder of GoneTooSoon, Terry George, said the memorial to Kadeem had been removed until further notice.

Michael Hamblett-Sewell, 19, from Derby, has been charged with murder. Three men aged 18, 20 and 23 and a woman, 48, have also been arrested.

"There's an element of disrespect here for people who have died, regardless of the circumstances"
Terry George, GoneTooSoon

Derbyshire police said the 23-year-old man was arrested on Sunday and was being questioned. The 48-year-old woman and the two men were arrested on Saturday and remain in custody.

GoneTooSoon is a non-profit website that allows people to create memorials to loved ones.

Visitors to the site, which currently holds about 41,000 memorials, are able to leave messages on individual pages.

Mr George said: "I was absolutely gobsmacked and shocked that people would leave such messages for someone who has been killed or anyone that's died.

"People who have passed away leave behind family and loved ones and their feelings have to be taken into consideration as well.

"There's an element of disrespect for people who have died, regardless of what the circumstances are."

Some of the messages included content which Mr George said he would pass to police, along with the retrievable IP addresses of those who wrote the comments.

Mr George said he hoped Kadeem's memorial would be reinstated.

"We're just going to hang on a little bit and let thing settle down and then we will attempt to put it back up in a week or so and see how we get on."




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Related to this story:
Two more arrests over gun death (17 Nov 08 |  Derbyshire )

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Derbyshire Police
GoneTooSoon
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