STUDENTS from a Stacksteads school have written about the murder of Sophie Lancaster for a campaign to highlight human rights.

Georgina Cross, 13, George Cartridge, 14, and Gabrielle Holmes, 13, of Fearns Community Sports College, all submitted an article to an Amnesty International competition.

The Year 9 pupils wrote about the impact the murder had on the way hate crime is reported for their entries to the organisation’s UK Young Human Rights Reporter Awards.

Sophie, 20, from Haslingden, was killed and her boyfriend Robert Maltby was beaten while walking through Stubbylee Park, in Bacup, in August 2007, because of the way they were dressed.

Sylvia Lancaster, Sophie’s mother, also visited Fearns to deliver a speech about the incident and the campaign that has been set up in her daughter’s memory Gabrielle said the talk was thought-provoking.

She said: “I thought Sophie’s mother was a very inspirational lady and I went and thanked her after the talk.

“It makes you think how you do things and how you think about people you see in the street.

“I had watched the animation of the incident Dark Angel before as part of my research but it had a totally different effect on me watching it after hearing Sylvia’s talk.

“When I got out of the theatre I just burst into tears.”

Sarah Cheshire, humanities co-ordinator at the school, thanked Sylvia for coming and talking to the pupils.

She said: “She really is an inspirational person to bring something good out of such a horrible event and to stand up for all people who are different.

“She should never have had to face this and we all have to learn from it.”

Winners of the Amnesty International UK Young Human Rights Reporter Awards will be announced at the end of April.