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Scafell Pike hike planned to honour stab victim

David Harmer Taylor Black and David Harmer standing together. Each is holding their arm around the other's shoulder. Mr Black is standing to the left and is wearing a red polo shirt. He is smiling and has brown hair. Mr Harmer is wearing a dark polo shirt and a grey baseball cap. Children's paintings are on the wall behind them.David Harmer
David Harmer (right) is walking up Scafell Pike on the fifth anniversary of Taylor Black's (left) death

A man is hiking up England's highest mountain to honour his best friend who was killed in a stabbing.

Taylor Black was 18 years old when his body was found at a house in Stockton in 2020.

His friend David Harmer, from Thornaby, is planning to mark the fifth anniversary of Taylor's death by climbing Scafell Pike in the Lake District - a trip the pair had always wanted to make.

Mr Harmer said he will be carrying a locket containing Taylor's hair on the hike, so his friend can make the climb with him.

Mr Harmer's journey will begin with a motorbike ride from Redcar to the Lake District before climbing the mountain with his wife and friends.

He aims to complete the round trip in a single day on 17 February.

The group plans to start a new tradition of scaling Scafell Pike to put a "flag on top and lay flowers at the bottom" in Taylor's memory.

Family handout Taylor Black. He is wearing a red chequered short and has died red hair. He is smiling at the camera and has blue eyes.Family handout
Taylor Black died after he was stabbed in a house in Stockton in February 2020

Mr Harmer has never been hiking before, but he and Taylor had always planned on visiting the Lake District together.

He is planning to walk up Roseberry Topping three times in one day in preparation for the trip and said he will not change the date of the walk even if the weather is bad.

"I am going up Scafell Pike no matter what," he said.

"We have got different things like crampons and ice axes and loads of gear for us to wear so we don't get cold."

Mountain Rescue England and Wales advises hikers to check the weather before travelling.

Advice on its website states walkers should "be prepared to turn back if conditions turn against you, even if this upsets a long-planned adventure".

David Harmer The locket containing Taylor Black's hair. The hair is contained within glass in a silver circular locket. It is attached to a silver chain.David Harmer
Mr Harmer will be wearing a locket containing his friend's hair when he hikes up Scafell Pike

Mr Harmer said he found out about his friend's death during his first day of work as a parts operator.

"His nana rang me crying and screaming down the phone, 'my baby's dead, my baby's dead'," he said.

"I think I just went into total shock."

He is using his walk to raise money for the Chris Cave Foundation, a charity which educates people about violent crimes.

"They helped my best mate's family through a really hard time," he said.

"I can't describe what it must have been like for them, because I know it was hard for me, but they did really help."

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