Man demands justice for murdered friend

Playwright, actor and gay rights activist Drew Griffiths, 37, who was born in Bacup and lived in Darwen, was stabbed to death during a homophobic attack in London in 1984.

And friend, Darwen-based artist Glynn Kelly, has been keeping his friend’s memory alive in order to bring the perpetrator to justice for more than 30 years.

Mr Kelly has been lobbying police over the years to try to get them to re-open the case.

And he even enlisted the help of Darwen and Rossendale MP Jake Berry, wrote several letters to the MetropolitanPolice.

However, Mr Kelly recently received the devastating news that the investigation wasn’t to be re-opened.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the then head of London’s Metropolitan Police, said in an email: “Unfortunately the forensics in this case will not, at this stage, take us any further.

“Obviously I don’t know where science will take us in the future so this is an aspect of the enquiry which will be looked at again.

“I can’t go into the intricacies of this strategy as this is an unsolved investigation and I don’t want to compromise it for any future work by disclosing the aspects which could in time take us further.

“The way forward would be to re-visit witnesses and to instigate appeals for information, however this is something I would need to assess to see what this would entail.”

Mr Kelly said: “I am really disappointed.

“I wasn’t kidding myself, There was no DNA in those days and I didn’t expect them to unearth new evidence or anything like that.

“I was hoping this would lead police to examining the behaviour towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community.

“I’m happy to accept that his murder may never be solved, but not yet, it still needs looking into.

“Since coming back to Darwen after working in the United States, Drew’s murder has been in my head.

“Drew was a wonderful person,and it’s just an injustice that this case has not been solved.”