We will never forget you

HAPPIER times: Chris (second right) with his family

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‘Inspirational’ Chris laid to rest

SPONTANEOUS applause erupted around St Patrick’s Church as Chris McManus was led away to his final resting place.

Traffic came to a standstill as more than 600 mourners, including family, friends, his long-term girlfriend Katy, local dignitaries and those simply wishing to pay their respects, gathered to say their final farewells to a man who was described as “inspirational”.

They had previously filled the Catholic church, on Union Street West, to listen to tributes from family and friends and come together in touching prayers for the 28-year-old.

Mr McManus, who lived in Royton, was killed on March 8 after being held hostage in Nigeria for 10 months, by a terrorist group who called themselves “al-Qaeda in the land beyond the Sahil”.

The coffin was adorned with a simple arrangement of lilies. A note with the flowers on Friday read: “Memories of you will never die, nor will they fade as time goes by.”




The full version of this story can be read in to tonight’s print and e-Chron editions