Described by his mother as a `lovable ratbag', Oamaru teenager William Lewis had just turned a corner in his life with a new job when he was stabbed to death on the street at the age of 16. Otago Daily Times reporters talk to those who knew him best.
'"If I fell to pieces, he would have kicked my bum. He would be, like, `Mum, get over yourself, it's not the end of the world'. He was that sort of person.''
• Regrets, pain and sorrow for the friends left behind
That is what gave Jenny Brokenshire, the mother of manslaughter victim William Lewis, the strength to cope since her then 16-year-old son was stabbed three times in the back during an altercation in Oamaru's Exe St about 9.45pm on April 1, 2010, the Thursday night before Easter.
With many members of her and former husband Peter Lewis' family, they have attended all the hearings involving then Oamaru teenager, Daniel Ethan Smith (now 20), who killed their son.
In an interview with the Otago Daily Times this week, Ms Brokenshire was at times emotional talking about Will (as the family called him) but said she was determined to get on with life.
She has coped because William would have wanted her to - ''just by knowing William and how he was''.
In the past, she has described him as a ''lovable ratbag'' but dedicated to his family.
Although he left school at 15, he was starting to make a future for himself.
With pride she told how William spent two weeks pestering businesses in North Otago for a job, finally landing one at a Kurow garage.
He was determined to succeed and turn it into a mechanic's apprenticeship.
''He was stoked that he got that job, even though it was short-term at the start.
"He died on the Thursday [before Easter] and they paid him for over Easter even though he wasn't there, he couldn't be there.
''They didn't have too, but he made an impression in the time he was there.''
Will had needed steel-capped boots so he went to his grandparents in Oamaru and borrowed a pair.
''I had a pair for him and they were coming down on the [Easter] Sunday from Auckland.
''He has got his new boots on. He was buried with his new boots, even though he never had the chance to wear them at work.''
About 12 plastic bins ''full of William's stuff'' are at her Timaru home.
''I don't need it, but I'm not ready to get rid of it. I may get rid of them, they may stay with me until forever, or until my kids say 'We don't need to keep this any more'.
''I've got everything from the day he was born, like hair from his first haircut, his first tooth, his tiny wristband from when he was born in the hospital - all that stuff. I have for all my kids.''
Born in Dunedin, William grew up in Timaru, but went to high school in Oamaru for two years because he wanted to go to Waitaki Boys'.
He then went to Opihi College in Temuka.
He left school and with his then girlfriend, who had been living with Jenny's family while attending community college in Timaru, came down to Oamaru to do potato picking and look for jobs.
''I told all my children at that time I was sick of doing all the housework and they needed to help. He and his girlfriend packed up and left for Oamaru.''
It was not an acrimonious parting and they kept in touch regularly; she put his mobile phone on her account so he could call wherever he wanted.
The last time she saw him was on March 22, when he came to Timaru to arrange to get his braces taken off on April 21.
He died before that happened.
The weekend Will died was ''horrible''.
He lay in Exe St under a police tent for 19 hours while they combed the area for evidence.
''I coped with that knowing it was something that had to be done.''
And where did she think Will would be now, if he had lived?
''He would have turned 20 in March this year.
''I would like to think that now he would have finished his apprenticeship.
''He had plans - he wasn't going to have children until he was 26 because he wanted to have a life first, a car and a house.''
