Posthumous award honours murder victim

The Catholic Church in Scotland is to present a posthumous award to the parents of a popular student who was murdered during an attempted street robbery.

Reamonn Gormley, 19, died in February last year after being stabbed three times by Daryn Maxwell in a senseless attack in Blantyre, south Lanarkshire.

Maxwell was jailed for life, while his accomplice, Barry Smith, was imprisoned for eight years and three months.

Gormley took part in numerous charity fundraisers and spent his gap year teaching English to children in Thailand.

The Catholic Church is to present a Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Award to his parents.

A second posthumous award will be presented to the parents of Joseph Wilson, a talented 17-year-old who died suddenly last December.

Wilson achieved five A-grades in his Higher exams and received the Convenor’s Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. He ran a table tennis club for younger students and was a reader at St Francis Xavier Church in Carfin, as well as a helper with the children’s liturgy.

A total of 450 young people from all over Scotland will receive Caritas Awards during a ceremony this Saturday at the Clyde Auditorium, in Glasgow.

The medals and certificates will be presented by the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

The awards are being presented to young Scots who have volunteered time in their school and faith communities, offered practical support to others, and demonstrated that these actions of loving service are inspired by their faith.