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News reports and family reprocussions

Since the death of  Hardy, there can be seen to have been greater repercussions not only from the victim's families but also from the Hardy family itself, with Colin Hardy (brother to Trevor) teaming up with expert analysts to try and uncover motives and how potentially one of the victim's lives could've been saved. (Colin Hardy, 2018) stated within the documentary "After me telling them he was a murderer, and they let him go and he killed again." It can be seen that the representation of Colin is that of a person plagued with his brother's past and has to deal with the consequences of his brother's actions. Further, other family members who were published in the newspapers stated "He thought it was his girl. So he went after her and knifed her to death." The choice of words used and published in this newspaper (unknown) creates the representation semiotically through "Knifed" as well as "his girl" can be seen to build the image of a possessive, patriarchal male who stabbed a girl in cold blood. The connotations of "Knifed" are that of brutal as well as thoughtless. This creates the image of Hardy as a monster which is the way he has been seen through all media outlets and is fitting to his self-portrayal in the spotlight.

The families of those he killed still bared the scars to present day with the news of Hardy's death, (Ralph Mosoph, 2013) father to Sharon Mosoph stated in The Manchester Evening News "Me and my family think this is the best thing that has ever happened to us. It’s like winning the lottery. We’ve had a big party to celebrate his death." This can be seen to be indicative of how deeply affected the victim's families were with their celebration of his death in late 2012. They had been burdened by Hardy and the fact that he had sent letters to the Mosoph family, it can be seen to show an even deeper wound being opened with this new form of communication between the victim and serial killer. He was feared and even though incarcerated, decades later there was still an apparent dread and sadness within the three families of the girls he murdered.
(Ralph Mossoph holding letters from Trevor Hardy (Image: Manchester Evening News Archive)

During his trial, it can be seen that the disliking for Hardy had grown, with (Unknown, 2012) expert Psychologist describing him as ""a hopelessly evil, dangerous man who could kill again." This can be seen to set the tone for his representation within the court, the newspapers as well as his image within society. Even the judge who prosecuted him and sentenced him was happy to incarcerate him. At this point, the public who attended the sentencing heckled "Die you bastard." This shows how much hatred and infamy Hardy had gained and how the community of Manchester had all banded together not only to heal as one, but also to turn their back on Hardy. The public was glad that Trevor Hardy was captured as during his killing spree areas like Moston and Blackley were increasingly affected with women not wanting to walk alone at night and almost 23,000 people were stopped and searched in Manchester over the 4 years of terror. 

(Daily mirror reporting on Hardy's arrest (Image: Daily Mirror Archives)

From his representation in The Daily Mirror, the use of the words "At bay" can be seen to connote the capturing an animal and or something dangerous to people. It is almost as if he has been dehumanized by news outlets due to his disliking in the communities, people's frustrations were put into writing through such articles and headlines. He was severely disliked due to his preying upon defenceless teenage girls and he had left a trail of devastation since his killing spree began with people fearing for their lives and once captured, due to his cocky as well as impulsive demeanour people showed no sympathy and or understanding. 

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