Mother's heartbreaking tribute to 'beautiful and loving' son Stanley Metcalf, shot dead by great-grandfather

Stanley Metcalf, from Hull, was killed at his great-grandfather Albert Grannon’s home in Sproatley, East Yorkshire on July 26, last year.

His mum Jenny Dees has now spoken for the first time of her family’s heartbreak since losing Stanley.

Jenny said: “Stanley is constantly in my thoughts from the minute I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, that’s if I go to sleep.

“He is always there in my mind.

“Even just walking to school now is so hard.

“I used to have both hands holding both Stanley and his twin sister Elsie, but now I have one hand empty and that is one of the hardest things.

“I did it once and I can’t do it again. Now I get in the car to take Elsie and I drive the 30 second drive to school because I can’t do it without Stanley.”

Jenny describes Stanley as a happy little boy, who loved football and was always smiling.

She said: “Everyone who met Stanley would always comment on how he was always so happy and laughing.

“Every picture we have of him he is smiling.

“There was only one time he ever cried and that is when England lost at the football.

“He was such a huge football fan and he loved Hull City.

“He would tell me he would play for them one day and he would say ‘mummy, they will be shouting my name one day’."

Jenny says she struggles to put into words the impact Stanley’s death has had on her and Stanley’s dad, Andy Metcalf.

She said: “It has been horrendous, I can’t put it into words because it has absolutely broken our family.

“It’s just too hard to explain it. For me, I don’t sleep or eat and I am really down.

“Elsie is the same, she has really gone within herself and it has had a huge effect on my two older children Ellie and Dan.

“My family has been split apart and it is something I never expected to happen.

“I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning, for that one split second I think everything is normal, but then it comes back to me and it just hits me like a tonne of bricks again.

“How was I put into that situation? Why me? Why Stanley and why my family because we were so close?

She has also described the close relationship Stanley and Elsie had.

She said: “Stanley and Elsie were like chalk and cheese, but so close at the same time.

“Stanley was up at 6am every morning and always asking to do something and he was just so adventurous and loved new things.

“Elsie was extremely protective of him and always in charge.

“It is heartbreaking now because the house is just so quiet. The house always used to be so busy and noisy with lots of children, but now it can be eerily quiet.

“It is so hard when Elsie gets upset because she no longer has Stanley to play with.”

Since Stanley’s death, friends and family have been fundraising and hosting a variety of events to remember him.

A special football and netball tournament has also been arranged as a tribute to the six-year-old.

Stanley’s Great Big Kick About will be held at St Mary Queen of Martyr’s on Saturday, July 7.

Jenny said: “Stanley would have absolutely loved this, especially the football side.

“He was such a great footballer.

“When he was just four-years-old he was playing with older boys because he was so good.

“I remember when there was one match when he scored so many goals and he was just so proud of himself.

“He couldn’t understand it when the coach took him off to rest him.”

A special memory garden is also to be created at Stanley’s school, St Mary Queen of Martyr’s in Bransholme, Hull.

Fundraising for the garden has been made possible thanks to the kind generosity of friends and family and Hull charity the RICH Foundation, which helps to support bereaved children.

The school recently held a special workshop with Hull Beats Bus where the children got to write their own rap song in memory of Stanley.

The song will now be recorded and put onto a CD and given to the children.

Kayleigh Pepper, founder of the RICH Foundation, said: “To see the smiles on the children’s faces and particularly on Elsie’s face is why the charity does what it does.

“It means so much to us to help in any way we can.

“Stanley will alwyas be in our thoughts and it is important for us to remember him in this special way.”