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0 Family and friends have gathered for the funeral of a young man who was allegedly knifed over a bottle of alcohol while working at BWS.
Declan Laverty, 20, was about to finish his shift at BWS at The Airport Tavern in Jingili, Darwin, just before 9pm on March 19 when he was allegedly stabbed to death by an irate customer.
Paramedics and bystanders tried to save his life, but his injuries were too severe and the young man was declared dead on the scene.
Police allege the 19-year-old responsible fled in a vehicle. He arrested on Monday and charged with murder and aggravated robbery.
Mr Laverty was laid to rest in Gordonvale, 23km south of Cairns, on Friday morning.
Loved ones were urged to wear black and yellow to represent his favourite football team, the Richmond Tigers.
Declan Laverty was fatally stabbed while working at The Darwin Tavern’s attached BWS bottle shop.
During the service, the budding musician was remembered as the ‘most dearly loved and cherished son of Samara and Damien’, and ‘soulmate’ to his partner Abbie.
His coffin was adorned with sporting trophies, a baseball cap, and Tigers merchandise.
His mother Samara Laverty spoke about the love that she shared with her son, who would text her multiple times a day to tell her ‘I love you’.
‘From the moment I found out I was pregnant with you, you had my heart and soul,’ she said.
‘You clung to me constantly, no one could take you from me or me from you….you were my little buddy, you will always be my little buddy.’
Ms Laverty revealed her heartbreak in the moment she knew her son had died.
‘The day you died, I got three ‘I love you, Mum’ texts.’
‘The last text I will ever get from you unless you start playing with my electronics. I knew when I saw that last text, I knew.
‘Sunday 19th of March 2023 at 21:19 hours my life stopped.
His casket was covered in the yellow and black of his favourite footy team the Richmond Tigers
‘My heart was ripped out, [you were] my soul, my firstborn child, the person who made me a mother.’
His father, Damian Laverty, gave an insight into their close bond, with the pair living together as ‘son and housewife’ before his death.
‘Things I’m going to miss – he would just open the door, walk in and you’d just be sitting on the couch and he’d just need to [nod],’ he said.
‘That’s all he had to do.’
Mr Laverty’s grandfather Lance was too emotional to speak at the funeral, but had a message read out by the celebrant.
The young man’s sisters said they ‘missed everything about him’, with one breaking down in tears while sharing memories with their brother.
His final act was to text his mother: ‘I love you mum, I’ve been stabbed.’
‘I always thought it would be you up here at my funeral saying something remarkably sassy and funny,’ his sister Taylor said of her little brother.
‘You always wanted to make a joke and he never failed to make me laugh and smile.’
His sister Bridget shared how Mr Laverty was ‘always there’ for her when she needed it.
Declan Laverty, who died after being stabbed while working at BWS in Darwin, was farewelled on Friday. Pictured are his two sisters.
‘I still remember the day I got hit at school and you and mum came racing down to the school and you were ready to hit the person who had hit me because that’s the sort of person you were,’ she said.
The ‘cheeky’ and talented AFL player was remembered for the love he showed his friends and family.
‘He did things his way, there were no shades of grey, you knew where you stood with him,’ family friend Jane said.
‘You knew where you stood with him, if he loved you, he loved you with every single atom of his soul and body.
‘If it didn’t work, he knew that too.’
His best friend Demi remembered ‘Crooksy’ as a man who had ‘all the passion in the world to do better for himself’.
‘He was such an ambitious man filled with so much love and care and was just someone you could rely on to have a laugh with, regardless of whatever type of day you’ve had,’ he said in a letter.
Mr Laverty’s father called radio station Mix 104.9 in the wake of his son’s death to reveal the extent of the violence he faced.
‘He’s had a screwdriver pulled on him only a few weeks ago. One of the other staff members has been physically attacked and he couldn’t come back to work,’ he told the radio station.
‘They get attacked quite often at that particular one as far as I am aware.
‘He was looking for another job. He just couldn’t handle it anymore.
‘It’s getting very, very bad out there for everyone. Whether it’s my son or someone else, something needs to be done.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
