Grieving Salisbury mother backs night time safety campaign
We're being urged to walk away from potential conflict
A grieving Salisbury mother is backing a campaign in the city to ensure nights out with our mates are remembered for the right reasons.
Gifty Tetteh, mother of Freddie Fonteteh-Jones, who was killed in February 2022 by a single punch, is pleading with everyone to make sure they get home safely.
She said: "Everybody deserves to come out and enjoy themselves. I want them to go back home safely to their family."
Gifty added that she thinks of Freddie everyday and is unable to explain how it feels, just that it is incredibly painful for her.
"It's getting close to three years now and it's not easy on me," she said.
The We Walk Away campaign, which is also being supported by Wiltshire Police, aims to prevent serious injury or possible death caused by a ‘one punch’.
It seeks to encourage perpetrators and bystanders to encourage their friends to 'walk away' from a potentially violent situation.
Our actions can have a 'massive impact', warn Police
We joined officers and Gifty in Salisbury during a night time economy patrol.
On a busy Saturday evening, the majority of people were enjoying themselves in pubs by Fisherton Street bridge.
However, officer PC Matt Boon and Sergeant Susan Malkinson were called into action when a man began being aggressive towards security staff.
The pair stepped in to diffuse the situation, eventually separating the male from security - dispersing the situation being one of the police's goals in dealing with such occurrences.
The man wasn't finished there though, with his frustration talking him into being arrested by the officers.
There was a more positive example of how things should be done though.
One young male has his friends to thank for escorting him away from a potentially violent situation, with the group making the right choice to walk him away.
Before dealing with the confrontational man, PC Boon told us it's vital we think before we act.
"It's really important that we walk away from these situations, especially when we've got alcohol on board. Lots of people come out at night time., and there are lots of emotional behaviours," he said.
PC Boon added: "People can get seriously injured and it's not just necessarily individual, it's actually can have collateral damage to families and we're really here make people aware of that."
He told us that alcohol is a major factor in how people behave - and something we need to vigilant of.