Demko family slams council and vows to keep leaving floral tributes

By dblackmore

Loved ones of a man murdered in Ashtead have told the council: "You can take away our flowers but you can't take away our love".

Friends and family of Matthew Demko gathered on Monday evening to lay flowers outside the Links Road home where the 25-year-old was killed in April last year.

Surrey County Council told Matthew's family last month that they will now remove any tributes left there and asked for no more placed outside the property.

Matthew's brother Tom has slammed the decision.

He said: "Everyone is going to put stuff there because it has shocked the community. I wasn't very happy about what the council said. I was quite disgusted.

"If people want to leave flowers there then good for them. I feel a bit spiritual about that place because that's where he died and it means something to me.

"Every time I go to my dad's house I stop there and say something to Matt and have a think."

The 25-year-old's sister Emily also blasted the council's demands.

She said: "If they take down ours then they should take down flowers alongside motorways. There can't be one rule for us and another for everyone else."

She added: "I go and sit there for ages, sometimes at 4am. I never do it during the day but always at night.

"It's peaceful there. I can think about things and give Matt an update on everyone."

Friend David Sillett said: "We are always going to put flowers down there. I don't think any of the residents are bothered. After all we have been through it's not too much to let us put down flowers."

Fellow friend Martyn Goody added: "As long as we are all still in Ashtead there will be flowers there."

Matthew's father, Nick, told the Advertiser last week that the council said flowers were a "safety issue".