One-punch killer leads tour to 'unite community'

"I'm hoping the tour of The Meadows will bring the right people together to make the unimaginable possible."

Jacob Dunne led community and business leaders on a tour of the area he grew up in in Nottingham this spring, taking in a school, a former youth centre and a closed pub.

Joining him on the tour was playwright James Graham, a Nottinghamshire native who wrote the play Punch based on Dunne, who was jailed for manslaughter after a one-punch attack in 2011.

The group also included Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood, members of the neighbourhood policing team, residents and business owners.

As they toured the old Meadows Youth Centre, which closed in 2022, Dunne and Graham spoke of their hopes to revive the area and bring in new investment to the community.

Dunne - who has met the parents of his victim James Hodgkinson through the restorative justice campaign - recalled playing at the youth centre as a teenager.

He said it gave young people a place to belong and safely test boundaries.

"There is a whole generation that has missed out on a place like this," he said.

Graham, whose work includes crime drama series Sherwood, also called for greater investment in the area.

"We need a local and national plan to encourage these places to return to their former glory so that we can be the best version of ourselves together," he said.

Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust, was among the figures on the tour, and said a new youth centre could benefit the whole community.

"In this youth centre is the opportunity to make good relationships, learn life lessons, build skills for the future and stay safe from what's going on in the streets," he said.

Some residents said they loved living in The Meadows, but said there had been a lack of investment in the area.

Karen Warner, 56, said: "If the people who are in charge aren't willing to put the investment in, how do we proceed?"

She also pointed to the Riverway pub, which is owned by Samuel Smith's Brewery and was part of the tour, but has been shut since 2019.

"It's just been standing there doing absolutely nothing," she said.

"I'd like to see it turn into a youth centre."

Natasha Johnson, 54, grew up in the area, and said young people lacked resources, opportunities and felt like they did not have a voice.

"I do have hope for the future, but I think it's a shame our community has been eroded," she said.

A Samuel Smith's Brewery spokesperson said the company was looking to recruit a manager for the pub, adding: "We want the Riverway to be at the heart of the Meadows community."

On the Meadows Youth Centre, a Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: "Community assets like this are at the heart of our neighbourhoods, providing support and opportunities for local people, and we're committed to helping to restore them where there is an identified need or use.

"We are keen to work with a community partner that could manage and operate the building on a lease."

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