THE sister of a man from Weeley who died in the Paris terror attacks says her family will not hold on to hate for his murderers.
The only survivor of a group of Islamic State terrorists which killed 130 people in an attack on Paris has been sentenced to life in jail without parole.
A special French court found 20 men guilty of involvement in the attacks on the Bataclan theatre, Paris cafes and France’s national stadium on November 13, 2015,
Among the victims was Nick Alexander, 35, of Weeley, who was shot at the Bataclan.
The former Colchester Royal Grammar School student had been selling merchandise for the band Eagles of Death Metal.
Salah Abdeslam, a 32-year-old Belgian with Moroccan roots, was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in relation to a terrorist enterprise and was sentenced of life without parole on Wednesday.
The court found his explosives vest malfunctioned, dismissing his argument he decided not to follow through with his part in the attacks.
The other defendants were given terrorism-related convictions and one was convicted on a fraud charge.
Nick’s sister Zoe, who attended the trial, told the Gazette his family wanted to move forward.
She said: “It’s been a very intense couple of days - we’ve been on a long journey to get here.
“The defendants have ten days to appeal, so there’s still quite a lot of moving parts, but we have reached a significant moment.
“Nick didn’t hate anybody and travelled the world with his job - he knew people of every background and had a broad world view. He would not hold on to hatred or prejudice.
“We want to represent him as he would have wanted, but it would also not serve us as a family to hold on to hatred of the defendants.
“We wouldn’t be able to move forward with creating a legacy for him.”
Following his death, the family set up the Nick Alexander Memorial Trust, which hands out grants to groups to buy musical equipment.
Zoe added: “We want to create a legacy for Nick and assure his name continues not in association with something awful, but with something beautiful that creates.
“Nick was someone who believed life was for living and he loved music and his job.
“He had a strong, vibrant personality and was great fun to be around.”
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