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Owen Dunn: Girlfriend recalls night Swindon man died

BBC Owen Dunn and Melissa Beeton sitting together in a gardenBBC
Owen Dunn and Melissa Beeton were due to celebrate their first anniversary of being a couple

Eighteen-year-old Owen Dunn was fatally stabbed travelling from his home in Swindon to visit his girlfriend.

He was due to celebrate one year of being a couple with Melissa Beeton the following day on 5 December.

A 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age, has been charged with murder.

Ms Beeton, 18, said she was among the first on the scene in Haydon End and ran all the way from her home in Oakhurst, Swindon after sensing something was wrong.

"I had a really bad gut feeling," Ms Beeton said.

"I'd been checking, because we have [the phone app] Life 360, because he always liked to make sure I was safe, and same for him, but I just noticed something wasn't right and I ran all the way here from my house.

"To hear what had been going on and to see all of the police tape, I was just absolutely in shock."

'Be my wife'

Ms Beeton later returned to the edge of the police cordon clutching a card.

"It was an anniversary card from Owen that I had because it was our year anniversary [in December].

"Just breaks my heart. In it he wrote 'one day you'll be my wife' and we wanted to try for a family; try for a baby.

"I've got a list of baby names on my phone, we'd been going through them."

Ms Beeton kneels in front of the memorial at the site where Mr Dunn lost his life. Flowers, teddys, photos and bottles of his favourite cherry coke are some of the items left at the site.
Ms Beeton, family and friends visit the memorial regularly

Funeral flowers, photos, teddies and bottles of Mr Dunn's favourite fizzy drink form part of the memorial which is a source of comfort to friends and family:

"It's absolutely beautiful what everyone's come down and done for him.

"We've got his cherry coke, which he absolutely loved, and just like little photos of him. He's got his cheeky little smile and that's just one thing we always want to remember him by. He'd make everyone feel loved."

Knife crime in Swindon has increased from 161 reported cases in 2021 to 198 the following year - a rise of nearly 23%.

A red and white pin with a dove in the centre, Owen's World at the top and forever 18 underneath the logo of the community interest company set up in Mr Dunn's memory
Owen's World is a community interest company set up in Mr Dunn's memory

Owen's World has been set up in Mr Dunn's memory focussed on improving youth services and reducing knife crime.

"Really, we just want the knives to be put down," Ms Beeton said.

"He's (Mr Dunn) the last person I'd have thought this would happen to - nobody deserves it, but definitely not Owen.

"He's like the peacemaker. It's what a lot of his friends described him as, as well, because he'd always be there to make sure everything was all sorted out, and he wouldn't like arguments and disputes."

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