Cherise helps us cherish Hollie Green’s memory

Cuddled up in the arms of her mother, Cherise Hollie brings a smile to the faces of a family that has endured the most traumatic of years.

This time last year they were told the devastating news that 21-year-old daughter and sister Hollie Green was dead.

Recalling that moment, Hollie’s mum Teresa, Cherise’s grandmother, said: “My first thought was that they must have got it wrong, not my Hollie. I remember collapsing on my knees at one point, the rest of it is just a blur.”

She was to discover that mum-of-one Hollie had been brutally murdered at the hands of her former boyfriend Daniel Gibbons.

The year was made worse by the high profile court case that followed as Gibbons, 21, denied intending to kill Hollie at her flat in Lordshill on August 31 last year.

The pair were childhood sweethearts but the relationship soured when Hollie found out Gibbons, with whom she had a daughter, had cheated on her and they separated.

Hollie had enjoyed a night out with friends in Southampton but she had returned home to Taranto Court in the early hours to find Gibbons waiting for her. He locked Hollie inside the flat then strangled her in the bedroom.

Gibbons, a carpenter, claimed he had little memory of the events and had simply put his hand out to stop her hitting out at him. But the jury did not believe him and he was sentenced to life with a recommendation he serve at least 13 years.

The court case also took its toll on Teresa who was taken to hospital after collapsing as the trial drew to a close. But amid the tragedy they were to discover that Hollie’s oldest sister Quisha had fallen pregnant after being told she couldn’t have anymore children after her first daughter, Courtney, was born. Eight weeks ago she gave birth to Cherise.