Sophie Lancaster wasn’t killed for being goth.
More than a decade later, we’re still telling her tragic tale all wrong.
The story dominated British news for weeks: a 20-year-old woman and her boyfriend had been found beaten, bloody, close to death in a Lancashire park. While the woman’s boyfriend would eventually recover from his injuries, she would not. 13 days later, she would die from her injuries.
The story of Sophie Lancaster.
This is the story of Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby. The couple were happy, intelligent, funny and obsessed with each other. She loved Harry Potter. He loved music. They both had bright futures, looking towards success in colleges and future universities. But in the early morning of the 11th August, 2007, her future would be placed permanently on hold. After meeting friends, the loved-up couple decided to walk home. Less than an hour later, they were drowning in blood as they lay on the tarmac of a skatepark, so badly beaten that first responders had difficulty telling which body was female and which one was male. They had been battered senseless by a group of boys, some as young as 15.
Police launched an investigation into grievous bodily harm. Less than a fortnight later, it became a murder inquiry. Sophie Lancaster had succumbed to her injuries, her future torn away from her and a cavern gashed into her family’s hearts. 5 teenagers were later convicted, sentenced to 2 life sentences and 3 prison terms all exceeding 4 years. This is the story of Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, as it happened. This is the story without corruption. This is her story of a heartless attack. It’s only when the questions began that her story becomes horrifically twisted.
Police were asked why she was killed. One motive was agreed on.
The police outlined it as a major factor. The media fixated on it as a motive. The court mentioned it during proceedings — and it’s still a major obsession of the story today. Lancaster and Maltby were members of the gothic subculture, and proud of it, and so it was agreed and became fact: Sophie Lancaster was murdered for being goth. “Killed for Being Different” became the new slogan for articles, police reports, casual conversation and documentaries alike.
Even today, all focus on the story echoes this slogan. The couple were attacked for being gothic — she was killed for being different. Many British schools teach entire tolerance lessons around the idea. But it’s wrong. Despite all the focus on her death, the media circus and the public mourning, disturbingly absent was the realisation that this slogan misrepresents why she was murdered. The motive we were given for this attack is horribly incorrect. Robert Maltby agrees: simply, “killed for being different” is a gross oversimplification of her death.
Sophie Lancaster wasn’t killed for being goth.
It’s easy to say that Sophie did not die because she was with Robert. That much appears obvious. Incredibly, the fact that she wasn’t killed because she was a goth is one many overlook. Sophie Lancaster died because murderers attacked her. She didn’t die because she was different. Saying that she was murdered “because she was different” subtlely yet horrifyingly shifts the blame. The massive issue with the very narrow way her story is presented (from “killed for being different” to “murdered because she was a goth”) is that it’s always implied that she was killed as a result of her decisions and the way she chose to present herself.
Killed for being a goth assumes that if she hadn’t presented herself that way, she wouldn’t have died. This statement, although resembling truth at face value, only exposes any person’s insensitive misunderstanding of the circumstances surrounding her murder. There’s no point in considering what she should have done because she didn’t take your hypothetical alternatives. There’s no point asking what would have happened if she hadn’t gone to the park, because she did, and we can’t change that. Dreaming up storylines in which Sophie lives won’t bring her back. Sophie was killed because a heartless mob of teenagers attacked her. She was killed because they didn’t like “moshers”. She wasn’t killed for being a goth. We must stop placing the cause for her murder on her shoulders.
Last year, Robert Maltby gave an interview with The Guardian newspaper. He agrees: “the goth thing was an oversimplification”, he said, expressing his frustration with the way the case was portrayed in the media. Later in the article, he tore down the role that their gothic appearance played, saying that the only thing that set them apart from the gang that attacked them were a few piercings and Sophie’s braided hair. To him, the focus on the gothic aspect “felt like victim-blaming”. It certainly was back then, and it certainly is today.
“It was always like: Sophie was killed because she was a goth. No, she was killed because some arseholes killed her. Why can’t we ask what it is about them that made them want to murder someone? Not what it is about someone that made them be murdered.”
Sophie Lancaster was not killed for being goth. Sophie was killed because a heartless mob of teenagers attacked her. She was killed because they didn’t like “moshers”. She wasn’t killed for being a goth. We must clearly show that the reason for her murder lies solely within her attackers, not her. Sophie was murdered because that particular group of teenagers were so full of prejudice that they disregarded all decency when coming in contact with it. It was the peer pressure and the gang mentality of those boys that killed her, not her dress sense.
Memories of Sophie have granted “Killed for Being Different” it’s only redeeming quality: it’s a forceful and sombre slogan.
After her death, her family launched the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, also known as Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred & Intolerance Everywhere (S.O.P.H.I.E.). It focuses on trying to prevent another murder like Sophie’s, especially within her hometown of Bacup, Lancashire — and to do this, it’s funding the tolerance and understanding of other subcultures, much like Sophie’s gothic community. The charity’s website homepage touts a similar slogan to that of the media — “kicked to death for being different.”
The endorsement of this slogan by the victim’s family only just redeems it. And so while I still feel the tagline places too much of the blame for the killing on Sophie herself (as already explained), I have to admit that the punctual, dismal and explicit message conveyed in it makes it a powerful rallying slogan from which to properly spread good, positive ideals, even despite the misguided implications it holds. The slogan must stay, if only to hold on to as much of her memory’s limited publicity as possible — for its morbid catchiness quickly impacted change around Britain. Multiple UK police forces have since changed policy to recognise hate against subcultures alongside hate crimes, proving that this flawed slogan can still do good — but we nevertheless need to adjust the way we tell the story behind it.
“Sophie Lancaster was killed for being different.” It’s a slogan we’ll have to settle with, but its flaws bear us also with the responsibility of telling the story behind it truthfully. When sharing the tragic and painful story of Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby, the story has to change to show an audience that the boys were responsible for her death. Not her.
It’s our only way of telling the truth: Sophie Lancaster wasn’t killed for being goth.
The Sophie Lancaster Foundation continues its fantastic and vital work today. Please visit www.sophielancasterfoundation.com to read more about the fight against intolerance and the effort to honour Sophie’s life. If possible, please support the foundation and allow them to continue their great work: you can donate here or learn more about supporting their incredible cause here.
