A CHARITY fundraising night at the River Rooms held to remember Ryan Passey on what would have been his 26th birthday has raised around £3,000 towards the family's fight for justice.

Relatives of Ryan, from Quarry Bank, who was killed while on a night out with friends at the former Chicago's bar in Stourbridge in August 2017, gathered at the Mill Race Lane venue for a night of music and fundraising to help pay for their forthcoming level fight.

The Justice for Ryan campaign, set up by family friend Jason Connon, is campaigning for a change in the law to enable victims' families to appeal in cases of perverse verdicts where jurors have acquitted those accused of a serious crime contrary to the evidence presented in court which is what Ryan's family believe happened last year when murder accused Kobe Murray was allowed to walk free after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

Mr Connon, campaign spokesman, said the fundraising night "was a huge success" which raised £3000 towards the campaign.

He added: "Hundreds of Ryan’s family friends and the community came out in support for what was a fantastic evening.

"We were also honoured to be joined by the family and friends of Stuart Roe who was also tragically stabbed to death in Halesowen on December 30 2018.

"Both Ryan’s and Stuart’s heavenly birthdays were celebrated on the evening and there was lots of singing and dancing to the tribute band Maet Loaf who performed at our event free of charge."

He added: "We would like to say a massive thank you to the River Room, its DJs and all its staff for all their support in helping us arranged this event and also to local boxer Jason Welborn for donating a pair of signed boxing gloves which were auctioned off on the evening among other prizes.

"We would also like to thank everyone that donated raffle prizes to us and helped us to put on another great event in celebration of Ryan’s 26th birthday.

"We still have a long way to go in our fight for justice for Ryan, but having the support of the local community and friends like we had on Sunday night give us a massive boost and the confidence to keep pushing forward."

The family needs to raise tens of thousands of pounds over the coming months to help fund legal challenges they are planning.

Meanwhile - relatives are set to meet with Home Secretary Sajid Javid this month and Lucy Frazer MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice), and Barry Sheenan MP, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to support the campaign can do so online at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/justiceforryan