Connor Brown murder: See Sunderland clubbers unite in song as they pay tribute to tragic teenager

A tribute was held at Illusions nightclub in Sunderland for Connor Brown.

Hundreds of people on a night out at Holmeside club Illusions took part in a tribute to popular 18-year-old Connor, who sadly died after being attacked while on a night out in the city.

The teenager was found in a back lane next to The Borough pub in Sunderland city centre in the early hours of Sunday, February 24, with life-threatening injuries, which Northumbria Police said were consistent with a stabbing.

He was taken to hospital but sadly died.

A minute's silence was held at the club on Saturday night and then those gathered sang together to a remix of Bryan Adams song Heaven, in tribute to the teenager who was taken far too soon.

A moving video taken by Illusions staff shows the touching moment when clubbers joined together to remember Connor, where the crowd can be seen raising their phone torches to the teenager, while his photograph is shown on the wall of the venue.

Following his tragic death the club - owned by Michael and Sharon Downey - have introduced new security measures to ensure that people feel safe on the streets of Sunderland.

It has worked with security firm Trojan Security, which has a base in Sunderland, who have installed a new airport-style scanning gate at the entrance.

Illusions events manager, Joe Gullis, 35, said the increased security has been well-received by the public.

He said: "We are not taking any chances with regards to people's safety, which is where the metal detector has come in.

"We knew we had to set a precedent and wanted the metal detector to be in place by Friday.

"The public have embraced it very well even though it is a completely different thing than what they will be used to in a nightclub, as it is a full airport scanner.

"It has went down very well, people seem happy with it and people have been saying it is a good thing."

Now that the new security measures have been introduced, those going into club have to queue up at the door, empty their pockets into containers and then go through the scanner gate.

The gate would then alert door staff if they had metal on their body and then door staff would then use a wand scanner over their body.

Additional searches would also be done by male and female door staff if required.

Joe continued: "It is not going to solve everything but we hope it will act as a deterrent."

* Two men have been charged with Connor's murder and are due to stand trial at Newcastle Crown Court on July 1.