Dunblane: Never Forget

by Dr Mick North

Mick North's daughter Sophie was one of the children killed in the massacre at Dunblane Primary School. Dunblane: Never Forget is a personal account of Mick's life before and after the massacre and includes a critical assessement of the events that led to the tragedy and those that have followed.

He begins by recalling his arrival in Stirling and how he and Barbara moved to Dunblane while awaiting the birth of their only child. A few months later Barbara was diagnosed with cancer and the family had to deal with her terminal illness. After the death of Barbara, father and daughter became an inseparable team until that dreadful day in 1996.

North writes about how he and the other families dealt with public sympathy, the anti-handgun campaign, the memorial service, the television programmes, newspaper interviews and the creation of the Dunblane Memorial Garden. He describes how it felt to attend a public inquiry into the murder of his child, criticises the local police force and details the ambivalent attitude of the Dunblane community.

Genres: Nonfiction

347 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2000

Reviews

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first learnt about the horror that happened on 13th March 1996 in Dunblane when I was in my teens. Thomas Hamilton never should've been allowed to inflict the devastation he did that dark spring day and many failures led to the murder of innocent children and their very brave teacher.

Mick's book is absolutely devastating and I could feel his grief through his words. Until now, Sophie North was just a name I had read in the list of the children killed in the massacre but the book really allowed me to learn a bit about who she was. The parents of the Dunblane victims should be immensely proud of themselves for turning their grief into something positive and bringing about the changes to gun laws that protect myself and all other UK citizens. I'm extremely grateful for their selfless sacrifices in the hardest of times, which in turn enabled myself and many other children to be protected at school in the years following the massacre.

I will definitely be keeping this book and passing it onto my children and grandchildren when they're old enough to read it. If we don't talk about these thing, there is a real chance thy could happen again.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is heartbreaking, and you cannot start to imagine, how this man could recover. It is very well written, and delves into the mistakes made by the professionals on the day of this tragedy and before and after. It made me cry, it also made me smile. It made me angry too. I actually read it when it first came out, then again recently. It still had the same effect.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! I knew of the Dunblane tragedy, but never knew how poorly the parents and families were treated from the onset by the authorities, community etc. At times I had to put the book down as I couldn't see through the tears. Excellently written by Sophies father.

[Emma Slaughter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not overly emotional, but honest and raw.