Mother of murdered Stephen Lyne starts empathy group

A Killarney mother is turning “a family nightmare” — the murder of her eldest son — into a programme to teach children about the importance of caring in the community.

Stephen Lyne was yards from home when he was killed by a single stab wound to the back. He died on a grass margin at Ross Road, in June, 2009. Nobody was ever charged with his murder. The chief suspect, who was also a teenager, died later in an accident.

Now, Stephen’s mother, Lotte, has launched the Stephen Lyne Foundation to teach children empathy. Empathy is the ability to identify with another person’s feelings or difficulties, and Lotte researched programmes suitable for honouring her son, but which would make the community safer.