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The sister of murdered teenager Alan Cartwright has told of her devastation that her new baby sister will not be able to meet her younger brother.

Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of the 15-year-old, who was knifed in the chest as he cycled along Caledonian Road in Islington with two friends.

The unprovoked attack by Joshua Williams, 18, who was jailed for a minimum of 21 years on September 18, was over in just a matter of seconds.

Williams tried to steal Alan’s bicycle before fatally stabbing him in the chest. The teenager staggered a few hundred yards before collapsing outside Cally Pool.

His sister Cherrie Ives, 22, today told the Standard how difficult the year has been since her brother’s death and the birth of her baby sister, Emily, who was born just weeks after Alan was murdered.

She said: “It is really odd because obviously her big brother was meant to be here when she was due to be born.

“She will know about her brother in good time, it is just really strange. She has blue eyes just like him.”

The hardest thing to deal with since Alan’s death, Miss Ives said, is knowing that she will never see him again, adding: “You expect him to walk in the door or get a phone call.”

“I am still coming to terms with that,” she said. “Now I say ‘do you remember when Al did that’ – talking about him in the past tense is hard.”

Occasions such as family birthdays, what would have been Alan’s 16th birthday in June and Christmas have also been difficult to cope with.

Miss Ives said: “[Christmas] was like a normal day for us. We didn’t do anything special. We still had Christmas dinner and we still had a place for Al set at the table.

“But instead of seeing him there, we went to the cemetery.

“It was hard when it was his 16th birthday, when it was my birthday, my mum’s and my nan’s. I just try and put it to the back of my mind so I’m not solely focusing on that because they are special days and I don’t want to remember he is not here.”

Miss Ives said she and her family have been taking it “day by day” since Alan’s death, adding: “We are still strong and getting by.”

Alan was one of 15 teenagers whose lives were claimed by knife crime in 2015.

A vigil is being held outside Cally Pool on Saturday – one year to the day of Alan’s death. The teenager’s family will hold a two-minute silence, release balloons and lanterns and Miss Ives said she will let off a single firework to mark the one year anniversary.

People who want to attend the vigil are asked to arrive before the two-minute silence begins at 7.30pm.