I heard Rob was dead and wanted to die too

A LAD left paralysed in the knife attack that killed Harry Potter star Rob Knox today reveals the depths of his anguish for his lost friend.

Brave Dean Saunders - stabbed in the neck - has defied doctors by WALKING again and becoming a DAD for the first time.

But when he first heard that pal Rob was dead as he lay in hospital he wanted to DIE.

"My mum told me there was someone worse off than me - he had died. And that was Rob," says Dean who backs our Save Our Streets campaign.

"I couldn't thrash around because I was paralysed - so I was stuck there crying. I couldn't believe it.

"I'd already been told I might not walk again. I really didn't want to go on."

Dean, 22, remembers little of the attack outside the Metro Bar in Sidcup, Kent, in May 2008 in which 18-year-old Rob was murdered by Karl Bishop, 22.

Dean had met Rob months earlier - and nicknamed him "superstar" because of his appearance in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. "He was a great person to be around," he says.

They were enjoying a drink with pals Nicky Lee Jones, 20, Andrew Dormer, 17, and Charlie Grimley, 17, when the killer struck. "I looked out and saw Nicky and Bishop outside. I knew Bishop had a knife but if you see your mate in trouble you don't really think about it. I went straight out," says Dean. "The next thing I was lying on the floor and my mates were trying to keep me awake."

Bishop's blade had penetrated his spine. As he lay in King's College Hospital, London, doctors told him he might never regain feeling in his legs. "I thought if I wasn't walking any more, I just didn't want to be there," says Dean. But he then began a remarkable fightback after being transferred to Stoke Mandeville hospital, Bucks.

He recalls how his mum and dad, Michael and Sylvie, watched as he walked the length of a hospital corridor and back. "I was really proud," he beams.

Just 11 weeks after the attack, Dean walked out of hospital. A year on, he and girlfriend Helen, 21, have become parents. Daughter Carly was born eight weeks ago.

Sad

Dean is back in his job as a dry cleaner but can't run or lift heavy objects - and his balance is poor.

"Fatherhood is good but I'd like to help out more," he says. "It's sad because I can't run around and play with her. Life will never be as it was."

In February Dean testified at the trial of Bishop who had served just two years of a four year sentence for knifing two youths in 2005. Dean believes he should serve more than the minimum 20-year life sentence he got for killing Rob.

"They've got to be a lot, lot tougher and dish out harsher punishments," says Dean. "Kids think it's all right to go out carrying weapons - but one night and it can change everyone's lives."

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WE'RE OFF TO CONFERENCES

THE News of the World's Save Our Streets roadshow is heading right into the midst of the very politicians who can change the laws - and YOU can join in.

We will be at the Labour Party Conference at the Brighthelm Centre in Brighton on September 30. Home Secretary Alan Johnson will be a panellist.

On October 7 we head to Manchester for the Tory Conference at the Moss Side Powerhouse.

Admittance is free but strictly by ticket only.

For tickets email saveourstreets@notw.co.uk or for more information see www.notw.co.uk/go/sos

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