The father of murdered 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen today pleaded with people to "look at themselves" and bring an end to violence on the streets, as he spoke at a memorial service exactly one week after his son died in a bakery.

The teenager was hit in the neck by a shard of glass and died in the arms of his older brother Tommy, 26, following an incident in the Three Cooks in Lee, south London, last Saturday.

The rugby-mad 6ft 4in tall GCSE student, known as a "gentle giant" to family and friends at St Thomas More Catholic school in Eltham, had celebrated his birthday only the day before his death.

Today more than 500 loved ones and well wishers packed into Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, in Lee, where Jimmy served as an altar boy, to remember him, while dozens more stood outside and listened to prayers through loud speakers.

His family which includes six brothers and two sisters were led in to the church by parents Barry, 56, and Margaret, 55.

Mrs Mizen said there were "not enough hugs in the world" but vowed that bitterness would not destroy her family.

Her husband then told the crowds: “It does not have to be like this. People are saying something must be done. I just wonder how futile it is with more and more legislation and laws.

“Perhaps we all need to look to ourselves and look to the values we would like and our responses to situations in our life.

“Sometimes we might be drawn into certain ways of our living. It is our choice but change has got to come from all of us.”

Jake Fahri, 19, from Lee, was charged with Jimmy's murder on Thursday. He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on August 21.

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