Posted 18th Nov 2008
A website set up to pay tribute to a murdered teenager is to go live again - just days after it was flooded with insulting messages.
The online memorial was set up for Kadeem Blackwood, the Derby teenager shot dead in a park last week.
But the page - on memorial site GoneTooSoon - had to be taken down after users posted 230 abusive messages.
Residents in the area of Derby where Kadeem was shot said they believed the 15-year-old was a gang member - a claim police have refused to comment on.
A number of the messages appeared to be from rival gang members, according to GoneTooSoon founder Terry George.
Mr George, who handed them to Derbyshire Police for investigation, said the level of abusive postings for Kadeem was unprecedented for the site.
He said: "We have had to remove it because it was causing too much abuse. For it to be up there for any length of time was upsetting for people.
"The whole purpose of GoneTooSoon is for anybody who has lost someone to leave a message and read condolences from other people.
"For anyone to put up nasty, racist or abusive comments upsets all the other users who like to read other people's messages. It was racist and abusive. It felt like rival gangs."
Mr George initially employed extra staff to monitor messages for Kadeem on GoneTooSoon before deciding to remove it.
"We have a system whereby if five people report a comment as abusive the page is suspended. But on this occasion the comments were so bad that we didn't wait for five messages, we went ahead and removed it."
GoneTooSoon is a non-profit making site and attracts 100,000 hits every day.
Mr George says he plans to reinstate the page from 10am. It will be closely monitored for any abusive messages.
"I think people have become de-sensitised, particularly youngsters," he said. "They come on the web and can be kind of faceless and leave nasty comments. It doesn't say much for the youth of this country."
A Derbyshire Police spokeswoman confirmed Mr George had contacted them but would not comment further on the website messages.
Kadeem was killed by a single shotgun wound to the chest while with friends on Caxton Street recreation ground last Tuesday evening.
He was taken to Derbyshire Royal Infirmary but died from his injuries.
:: Three men aged 18, 20 and 23, plus a 48-year-old woman, remain in custody in connection with the killing. Michael Hamblett-Sewell, 19, of Derby, has been charged with Kadeem's murder.
