Widow to release anniversary balloons

Heartbroken family members will mark the second anniversary of the death of a young dad killed outside a Black Country nightclub.

Simon Williams, aged 22, died of head injuries following an argument outside JBs nightclub in Castle Hill, Dudley, on August 27 2006.

The Wolverhampton plasterer, who was a father to daughter Shannon, now seven, died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham just hours after the attack. On Wednesday widow Catherine and other family and friends will celebrate his life by releasing balloons outside the club.

"Shannon understands what has happened to her dad, she has known what happened right from the start," said Mrs Williams, aged 23, who still lives at the home she shared with her husband in Needwood Drive, Lanesfield.

"I can't say I am looking forward to the memorial event because it's not what I pictured myself doing in the future but what happened has happened and you have to find a way to cope.

"It's hard to know what to do for the best but we released balloons on the first anniversary and it just seemed like the right thing to do again this year." A 17-year-old boy from Stourbridge was initially arrested on suspicion of manslaughter but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case due to a lack of evidence.

The news that no-one will be prosecuted has been hard for Mrs Williams to take.

"But we have had to accept it because there is no choice to do anything but," she said.