Nearly 150 miles away from home, Luke O'Connor was living the student life to the full. An undergraduate at Manchester Metropolitan University, he had embraced his new city and was adjusting to life in Fallowfield, a mecca for thousands of students moving here every year.
But a few weeks after returning to Manchester to embark on the second year of his business management course, back home in Bedford, north of Luton, his parents received the call that every family dreads. Luke, just 19 years old, with dreams of travelling the world, had been killed and become yet another victim of knife crime, the pernicious evil which has permeated society.
His death caused terror in the heart of the city's studentland. But his killer was no lone wolf predator stalking students.
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He was one of their own. Shiloh Pottinger, a talented music student, was the same age as Luke when he died.
Just two weeks earlier, Pottinger, who had never been in trouble with the law before, had been able to purchase the weapon he killed Luke with, a terrifying 13-inch 'Mafia stiletto' knife, with the click of a mouse from China.
The tragic case of Luke O'Connor provides yet another example of the horrors of knife crime, demonstrates just how easy it is for young people to get their hands on fearsome weapons, and shows how in one moment, with trouble flaring up out of nothing, lives can be changed forever.
Luke, the youngest of three brothers, loved life and all it had to offer. His passions were music and football, particularly Liverpool FC, and his dream was to travel around the globe and experience new cultures.
Standing at 6ft 2ins, his family described him as their 'gentle giant'. He had lots of friends, and was the life and soul of any party. A 'bubbly' and 'lively’ young man, Luke was the kind of person who would revel in Manchester's student scene.
He had been out at a Halloween party with friends on the night his life would be cruelly cut short. Sharply dressed in a black suit and white shirt, he and his two housemates were making their way home when they came across Shiloh Pottinger.
Pottinger had also been out that night. Originally from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, he moved to Manchester as a child and had always had a passion for music. Creating songs at home on his laptop, he had spent years honing his craft and last autumn was studying at the prestigious BIMM Institute for a degree in music.
The city centre institution has been a hotbed of musical talent, helping to forge the careers of talented artists including Manchester indie rockers Pale Waves and Working Men's Club, who have both gone on to secure prized record deals. It seemed as though Pottinger, who lived in Fallowfield, would be one of the next on the conveyor belt.
Alongside his studies, he performed under the pseudonym OSU, releasing well received R'n'B tracks which boasted tens of thousands of listens on Spotify and YouTube. Just as it was for Luke, the world was his oyster. But all that would change on October 26 last year.
Pottinger had been at two of Fallowfield's most popular night spots that evening, the Friendship pub and Bar 256. His arrival at Bar 256 hinted at the dark secret that his fellow music students would never have known.
Instead of accessing the bar through the main entrance, where revellers were searched by security staff, Pottinger climbed over a fence to gain entry. Why?
Because in his pocket was a 13-inch 'Mafia stiletto' knife, which he'd ordered online a few weeks earlier. At the subsequent trial, keen skater Pottinger claimed he'd bought the fearsome weapon to help apply duct tape to his skateboard.
But that defied common sense. There were blades specially designed for the task freely available online. A 'Mafia stiletto' knife would be wholly unfit for the job.
"This wasn't any old knife," the prosecutor said at his trial. "This was an offensive weapon. It is designed for the infliction of injury on another human being." Pottinger's internet search history provided a window into his mindset in the days and weeks prior to Luke's death.
He had conducted 78 searches for knives in that time, including hunting knives and combat knives. Whatever the reason behind those troubling searches, it appeared as though he had a 'dangerous fascination' with blades.
That was all too evident when Shiloh Pottinger and Luke O'Connor became embroiled in that fateful, fatal confrontation on October 26. It all started with a silly, light hearted remark, a cheeky one-liner which could easily have been batted away or simply ignored.
Luke's pal Charlie Richardson had noticed Pottinger was holding a skateboard, and asked him if he could perform a 'kick flick', a type of move which can take lots of practice to perfect. Instead of returning fire with a barbed reply, or simply telling him to 'do one', Pottinger lost it.
After some choice words and some pushing and shoving, he revealed his knife from his pocket and then attacked Luke with his skateboard. Shortly after, the mafia knife was put to devastating use.
In the course of a deadly scuffle, caught on horrifying CCTV footage, Luke was stabbed eight times by Pottinger. His reaction was out of all proportion to reality.
Perhaps he was acting out the 'dangerous fascination' in real life. In full public view, on Wilmslow Road, one of Manchester's busiest thoroughfares in the heart of the city's student land, the killing created ripples across the city.
Universities offered counselling and mental health support, while a candlelit vigil was held in Luke's memory. Extra police patrols were installed in busy student areas to provide reassurance to those terrified by what they had seen and read about.
Meanwhile, Pottinger did all he could to keep his head down, as police launched a murder investigation. Watching on as Luke bled to death on the road after collapsing, he fled.
For days he remained at home, no doubt hoping it would all blow over. But he was busy searching online, investigating how to treat a wound he had inflicted on himself during the course of the frenzied stabbing.
And his internet searches also provided a revealing insight into his mindset at that time. 'How long do you serve for killing someone?' and 'how much time do you get for knife murder?', were among the search terms.
Pottinger was arrested on October 28, and charged with murder three days later. At his trial, which began last month, Pottinger tried to shift the blame onto Luke. His lawyer claimed Luke was 'up for a fight', and that Pottinger was trying to defend himself.
All Luke was armed with in his hands that night was a pouch of tobacco, for the cigarette he was trying to roll. He had not purchased a mafia stiletto knife and was not wielding it in public.
The jury saw through Pottinger's claims. They found him not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter. The 10-2 majority verdict came after almost 14 hours of deliberations. He had already admitted possessing a knife, and was warned to expect a 'lengthy sentence'.
Last month the Government announced another new crackdown on knives, launching a consultation aiming to stop the sale of terrifying machetes and zombie knives. Under the proposals, anyone caught importing, manufacturing, selling or supplying banned offensive weapons and selling blades to children could face up to two years in prison.
But any new legislation will come too late for Luke and his family, who travelled to Manchester throughout the trial to follow the case. Their 'lively, bubbly, beautiful boy', who they'd waved off as he went to chase his dreams, will never return home.
Yet another young person's life has been senselessly cut short, as a result of knife crime, an evil which society must tackle head on to prevent untold heartbreak for more families like Luke's.
On Friday, Pottinger, of Brailsford Road, Fallowfield, was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter. He will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court next month.
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