Fresh heartache for family of murdered South Shields teen as killer is spotted on social media

Susanne Hilton has never come to terms with the night of August 25, 2006, when she was told by police her son Glen Corner had been stabbed.

The 16-year-old had been with his friends in East Avenue, South Shields, as they celebrated their GCSE results and his birthday when killer Lee Firman armed with two knives threatened the group.

Glen stepped in to protect his friend and was repeatedly stabbed in the stomach by the then 19-year-old, from Thornholme Avenue.

Firman was jailed in 2007 for life with a minimum tariff of 16-years.

Since then, Glen’s family have campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of the dangers and impact knife crime can have on families and communities.

Each day Susanne says she has to live everyday knowing she will never see her son, who had battled cancer as a youngster, again.

Now, she says she has been forced to endure further heartache after learning her son’s killer has been able to create a Facebook account for a second time.

Ms Hilton said: “I hadn’t been on Facebook for a while, then someone said he had a Facebook account. When I saw it, I discovered we had mutual friends.

“I’m worried he now knows what my kids look like and where I live. It has left me really worried.

“I was then told the account had been deleted and there had been a sweep of his cell.

“Now a few days ago I’m told he has another facebook account under a different name.

“It has brought everything back, I’m getting flashbacks from the night Glen died, seeing my son lying in his coffin. I’ve had to leave my job as I couldn’t cope with it all.

“I suffer from agoraphobia, post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety as a result of all this and I find it really hard to leave the house.

“How can murderers be allowed to have access to the internet and to social media - it’s all wrong.

It is a criminal offence for a person to bring a mobile phone into a prison, or transmit sounds or images from within a prison using a mobile phone.

It can carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

A Prison Spokesperson said: “This behaviour is unacceptable. We have requested that this social media profile is removed and the prisoner involved will be disciplined, which could mean extra time behind bars.

“We are stepping up measures to find and block mobile phones in prisons and those found with them can face extra time behind bars.”