Concern over thefts from graves

Darlington Council described thefts from graves as distressing

A bereaved mother has criticised Darlington Council for not doing enough to prevent thefts and vandalism in the town's West Cemetery.

During the most recent incident, on 1 November, Halloween-themed items were taken from the grave of Katie Beagle's five-month-old baby.

Ms Beagle, whose daughter Jessica died in 2006, said it was not the first time the grave had been targeted.

The council said it was working with the police to combat the problem.

Ms Beagle said: "There have been constant thefts and vandalisms. Flowers are put there and we can go back an hour later and they are gone.

"I don't think it is children, I do believe someone has a nice garden somewhere."

It is very distressing for families when this sort of thing happens Cliff Brown, Darlington Council

Cliff Brown, director of community services at Darlington Council, said: "We work very closely with the police who carry out patrols on the cemetery.

"Unfortunately these sort of locations cannot be supervised constantly, so we have to rely on feedback from families as to when they are occurring and try to target patrols at appropriate times to see if we can catch people doing it."

Installing CCTV cameras had been considered, but he said they are unlikely to be effective due to the large amount of tree coverage and the lack of lighting.

"Problems in West Cemetery occur every now and again, but are not something which happens day in and day out," said Mr Brown.

"It is very distressing for families when this sort of thing happens."