Yesterday would have been Luke Batty’s 15th birthday. Tragically, he was just 11 when he was beat to death with a cricket bat at the hands of his own father.
Since his death, his mother Rosie has dedicated herself to campaigning against domestic violence in the hope that no other mother has to lose their son in the devastating way she has.
“Happy birthday to my beautiful Luke,” she wrote on the Luke Batty Foundation page on Facebook. “We all miss you so much. I am celebrating you today. There’s an entire community campaigning for change in your memory. We’ve achieve a lot since we started Never Alone two years ago to this day. I know you’d be really proud of us. From Mum.”
In the last 24 hours the message has received an outpouring of love from supporters. “Thinking of you Rosie always,” one user wrote. “A mothers love for her child is never ending.”
Rosie’s estranged husband Greg Anderson was allowed to see his son before his death in certain circumstances, despite ongoing threatening and violent behaviour. While an intervention order was put in place against her ex, it stipulated that he could see Rosie or Luke if in a public place. It was this loophole that led to Luke’s death, when Greg beat him as they had been playing cricket together outside. Greg was shot dead by police at the scene.
For more information on Never Alone, head to their website here.
