'Dignity and respect' for Lilly

By Neil Aitchison
BBC News, in Great Alne, Warwickshire

More than 40 mourners came to the service in Great Alne

A village community in Warwickshire has come together to give a "dignified" send off for a baby whose body was abandoned next to the River Alne.

Police named her Baby Lilly after her body was found in a plastic bag by the river at Aston Cantlow in May.

She had suffered a fractured skull and collar bone which police believe were not sustained at birth.

The Reverend David Capron said the service gave Lilly the "dignity and respect" she had not got in life.

Members of the community provided their services for free to put on the ceremony at the Church of St Mary Magdelen in Great Alne, near Alcester, to save Lilly from a pauper's grave.

The tragic circumstances of Baby Lilly have determined to us all that she should not just be written off in the same callous manner The Reverend David Capron

There was an odd sense during the service where the tears of parents and condolences of relatives were missing.

Instead the detectives, who are still searching for the baby's mother and gave the child its name, accompanied the coffin for the funeral.

About 40 people from the local community and from further afield filled the church which is just a couple miles from where the child was found.

The community though is still in shock.

One floral tribute from a couple from Great Alne read: "Goodbye Baby Lilly. Sweet dreams, little one, forever in our prayers. We ask ourselves why? God bless."

Leading the service Mr Capron said: "We all wanted to afford to Baby Lilly a degree of dignity and respect she never received.

"I think the tragic circumstances of Baby Lilly have determined to us all that she should not just be written-off in the same callous manner.

"She will rest with those who have trod the footpaths of this community over the years.

Emma Denny felt saddened by Baby Lilly's death

"And she will do so, because, even for the shortest period of time she was a member of this community."

Members of the church and detectives held hands in prayer as the tiny white coffin was lowered into the grave and a white dove was released to signify the freedom of Lilly's spirit.

Emma Denny who had come from Warwick with her five-month-old daughter Clara for the service summed up the feeling among the congregation.

"I was just so saddened by Lilly's death, I wish I could've done more for her than show up at her funeral, I just wanted to come along.

"When I look at my baby Clara I think it should have been Lilly laughing and smiling like Clara, it's just very sad."

Det Insp Debra Tedds, of Warwickshire Police and who is leading the investigation, said officers were still hopeful of finding out how Lilly's body came to be on the river bank.

"Today marks a day when this investigation could be laid to rest, it's a significant opportunity for anybody who knows anything to come forward," she said.

"We don't seek to judge anyone, the circumstances surrounding this I'm sure are very complex, we just want to understand."