Gary ‘Angry’ Anderson’s son, Liam, was laid to rest on Monday in a heartfelt ceremony, three weeks after he was allegedly murdered in a violent attack.
Many tears were shed as the 26-year-old was farewelled for the final time by friends and family at a chapel in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Liam was carried inside in a white coffin where more than 400 mourners gathered for the emotional funeral.
The song ‘Close to You’ by The Carpenters was reportedly played during the ceremony, bringing many to tears as they remembered the young man who was following his father’s footsteps into the music world as an aspiring rapper.
Overcome with emotion, Liam’s mother Lindy told The Daily Telegraph the death of her son had finally sunk in and she was beginning to comprehend the heartbreaking realisation she would never see him again.
“I’ll never hold my baby boy again, life will never be the same,” she told the publication.
Liam was beaten to death at Pavilion Park in the north Sydney suburb of Queenscliff after partying in the city with a group of friends, including his alleged killer Matthew Flame, around three weeks ago.
Emergency services were called to the reserve just after 6am on November 4, following reports of an assault. Officers arrived to find a man, who was later confirmed as Liam, unconscious having suffered serious head injuries.
According to reports, Liam was still being attacked when police arrived at the scene.
He died shortly after being airlifted to hospital via emergency helicopter due to the extent of his injuries. Only days later Flame was accused of bashing his friend to death.
While original reports claimed the two were “best friends”, Angry later confirmed in an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph that was not the case.
He reportedly struggled to keep his composure and held back tears as he spoke to the reporter, insisting he knew virtually nothing about Flame before the terrible incident.
“They were not best friends,” Anderson told the news outlet. “He wasn’t even in Liam’s main group of friends.”
The musician praised his son for always doing the “right thing” – something he had ensured he taught all of his children from a young age – and believes that’s exactly what Liam was doing when he accompanied Flame out of the party they were attending together.
In a separate interview with The Australian the devastated father said hearing that Flame’s family was “traumatised” after the horrific incident was “unbearable”
“I can’t in all honesty say that I care at this moment about the pain they (Mr Flame and his family) are going through, but I know one day I will,” he exclusively told the publication.
“Right now don’t ask me for that sort of Christian compassion because I don’t have it.”