'I never expected my child to come home in a coffin' - Mum of knife crime victim shares stark photo

Lynne Baird shared the heartbreaking picture to mark the anniversary of son Daniel's funeral

A mum shared a stark picture of her son's coffin on his last night with his family as she pleaded for an end to knife crime.

Sharing a tragic photo of Daniel Baird's coffin ahead of the third anniversary of his funeral, mother Lynne said she "never expected her son to come home like this".

Her son was just 26 when he was fatally stabbed as a dispute between two groups of men spilled outside Digbeth's Forge Tavern on July 8, 2017.

Exactly three years ago today, Monday, September 14, the family had their 'last night' with Dan as his coffin came to the family home the night before the service.

Sharing the heartbreaking photo on Twitter as a 'way of coping' following a sleepless night, Lynne today wrote: "Three years today Dan, when you came home for your last night with family.

"It had been 10 weeks since we last saw you. I never expected my child to come home like this. RIP Daniel Baird.

"Stop knife crime!! #knifecrime."

But sadly, the knife crime which claimed the life of her son continues to grip the city.

In the early hours of Sunday, September 6, Jacob Billington was stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre and seven others were knifed.

An unconnected stabbing two days later on Tuesday saw a 19-year-old knifed in broad daylight in Tame Road, Aston.

Lynne has been campaigning for an end to knife crime through the Daniel Baird Foundation, which was set up following her son's death.

The foundation saw life-saving bleed kits, which cost £80, rolled out across the West Midlands to stem catastrophic bleeding caused by violent crime and also RTCs.

The specialist first aid kits contain items including tourniquets, pressure dressings and gauze bandages.

Just last month, the family held a virtual fundraising run to mark what would have been Dan's 30th birthday - with money raised from the entries helping to buy ten more bleed kits.

Speaking on the latest fundraiser, Lynne added: "The event was a great success. We raised enough to purchase 10 bleed control kits for our next local project."

When the project was launched in June last year, the mum had said: “When Dan was stabbed, by the time ambulance crew arrived he had lost too much blood. If someone had been able to stem the blood loss, Dan might have survived.

"That’s when I started researching into what was available to treat immediate victims of stabbings -  in this country only ambulance crews have access to the right equipment.

"Over the months I picked up vital support from people to create and distribute these kits and here we are.

“It's not just about treating people who are stabbed. These kits could be effectively used on car crash victims too, anyone who has an accident. Venues have first aid and trained first aiders so why not these life saving kits?"

• In February 2019, 23-year-old Carlton Donaldson was jailed for 23 years for fatally stabbing Dan.