THE parents of car crash victim Ieuan Murkin (pictured) hope a fund being set up in his name will foster musical talent of the future.

Keen drummer Ieuan, 15, of Broadway, Pontypool, and his friend Craig Bond, 16, were fatally injured in an accident on Crumlin Road on September 20.

Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, Trevethin, where keen musician Ieuan was a student, are to pay tribute to him with a memorial concert on Thursday and a yearly award in his name.

His mother Anita said: We want to do something, but I suppose whatever we do isn't going to be enough.

"The school came up with the idea of a memorial shield originally and we thought it was fabulous.

"We're calling the concert a celebration. The school are arranging everything.

"We've been kept in touch because our daughter Cerys still goes there.

"But there are days where Cerys has gone to school and not coped very well."

The family have all found it difficult to deal with the tragedy.

Anita said: "It's been very hard, very unreal and we've gone through everything over and over again.

"It seems like we've watched it on a film and we're just telling people about it.

"Ieuan was a very young 15 and he'd only just started going further afield from home.

"But he'd found his drumming, he'd found his mates, they had a band and they practised every night of the week.

"His group had only met up in January last year and hadn't been playing very long, but the noise was sounding like a band.

"They'd just finished putting six tracks together for a CD. They were really into it." The band's 18-year-old bass guitarist was the driver of the car in the fatal crash in September. He suffered serious injuries.

Ieuan's father Gwynne Murkin said: "Ieuan and his friends had formed a band and taken over my garage - they were here every night.

"Craig Bond was one of their friends but he'd only recently started coming up over the last month.

"They used to call themselves Nine and a Half Percent. They were playing quite well and we asked them to play at my daughter's birthday party in the garden.

"We've got a video of them playing then. The drums that he's got here Cerys is going to start taking lessons on - for him. She wanted to go down and start messing with them straight away."

Thursday's concert, in the main school hall at Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw at 7pm, will include the music Ieuan played and loved.

It will be performed by many of his friends and teachers.

The concert is free and open to anyone.

l continued on page 5