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Tributes paid to agent Chloe Rutherford on what would have been her 21st birthday
Friends and family have remembered Chloe Rutherford, the trainee travel agent who died in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, on what would have been her 21st birthday.
Memories of Chloe, who was an apprentice at Westoe Travel in South Shields, were posted by the Chloe and Liam Forever Together Trust social media pages, while her best friend said: "You’ve left a massive gap that no one will ever fill."
Her birthday comes a day after bomber accomplice Hashem Abedi, 23, was jailed at least 55 years.
He had helped his older sibling Salman to plan the bombing that killed 22 people and injured hundreds on 22 May 2017.
He was convicted after a court heard he was ‘just as guilty’ as his brother, who detonated the bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. He died in the attack.
Chloe’s mother, Lisa Rutherford, read out a statement in court, describing Chloe as a ‘ray of sunshine’.
Caroline Curry, mum of Chloe’s boyfriend, Liam, who also died in attack, also spoke in court.
Abedi refused to attend the hearing and was sentenced in his absence.
Read more of Chloe’s mum’s statement to the court here.
By Lisa James, Deputy Editor (UK)
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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