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'Heartbroken' family of Charlie Cosser call for law change to reveal names of teenage killers
21 September 2023, 07:41 | Updated: 6 December 2023, 14:35
Charlie Cosser's father has exclusively told LBC 'Cosser's Law' needs to be introduced to prioritise justice for victims, rather than protecting killers.
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A 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons has pleaded not guilty to murder and is due to go on trial on May 13 next year.
Charlie - known to his friends as Cheeks - was 17 when he died in hospital, two days after being stabbed multiple times at a house party in West Sussex. His father says the family is "absolutely destroyed" and "heartbroken".
Martin Cosser said they were in disbelief at the hospital where Charlie was taken in critical condition: "We were still just praying that actually they had made a mistake. 'It can't be Charlie. Charlie doesn't like raised voices. Charlie's a good lad - this can't be Charlie, it just can't.'
"How do you prepare yourself to say goodbye to your teenage son who is 17, who means the world to you? We all just held him as we watched the blood drain out of his face, his lips turn blue and said goodbye to our little boy."
Father of Charlie Cosser speaks to LBC
Martin told LBC it's "unfair" that Charlie's name will be forever linked with his death, but his killer's may not be: "We didn't have a choice. So how does a perpetrator - who continues to live his life, breathe and will probably have an opportunity to have a family and do all the things that Charlie won't have an opportunity to do - why should he be protected? It's disgraceful.
"Everything seems to be in place for the defendant. Decisions are forced upon us because our son has been murdered - we're the victims and yet we have no choice.
"His name has to be released."
The Cosser family is still in the throws of trauma, with Charlie's father revealing he has constant nightmares and panic attacks where he feels like he has been stabbed himself.
The happy family-man said what happened to his "funny, gentle, kind" teenage son changed him entirely, making him feel bitter: "Charlie will never see 18. His friends will grow up, they'll get married, they'll have children. We'll have to see that.
"I see elderly people and - through no fault of their own - I'll think 'Why do you get to 90 years old? My son is a teenager'."
Father of Charlie Cosser speaks to LBC
Asked for a message to Charlie's killer, Martin said, for the first time in his life, he feels hate: "You know that Charlie will be watching you forever and a day. When you go to sleep and close your eyes Charlie will be there. And there's no forgiveness for murder.
"My son now lives in eternal light in heaven. You won't go to heaven. There's no heaven for you for what you've done.
"You are evil and I hate the fact I feel hate like this because, honestly, if you had known me three months ago, it's not me."
