The family of a woman stabbed to death in front of horrified shoppers have spoken for the first time about the impact on their lives.
Sally Hodkin, 59, was killed in an apparently random attack that left her husband, Paul, and two sons struggling to come to terms with their loss.
Mrs Hodkin was stabbed minutes after leaving the family’s home in Bexleyheath as she headed to her job at a solicitors in Blackheath, where she worked as an accounts manager.
Mrs Hodkin’s youngest son, Ian, said her grandchildren, Max. nine, and Alex, four, were worst affected by her death in October.
“They were very upset and devastated… We always think of her and we rally round each other,” he said.
“She was a kind, loving person — she liked to knit and when anyone had a newborn she would knit something for them. She was very hands on and loved her grandchildren.”
His brother Len, 35, said he still found it difficult to talk about losing his mother, saying: “How does anyone begin to deal with it?” His daughter, born a month ago, was named Betsy Sally Heidi Hodkin in her memory.
Relatives and friends were among more than 500 people at a charity football match last week which raised £7,000 for the Ménière’s Society, which helps people with balance disorders and hearing problems. Mrs Hodkin was deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other. Mr Hodkin said: “It was nice to thank everybody for the support they gave us. The match was to remember mum and to raise a few quid for a charity that was close to her heart.”
Nicola Caroline Edgington, 31, from Greenwich, has been charged with murder and attempted murder, and will appear at the Old Bailey on 1 June to enter a plea.
An inquiry is also under way by the NHS and Independent Police Complaints Commission.
