RYAN FRANKLIN

Our protest march "Enough is Enough" went well. There was a good turnout and we made our feelings about inadequate sentences known!!  All the marchers were family members of victims of murder, who strongly felt that the murderer was not properly punished.  These murderers were given grossly lenient sentences, to which all right minded people would agree were not appropriate. One bereaved family, that of Kevin Lavelle, were particularly incensed over the fact that the 3 pieces of scum who battered him to death, were all released without charge because it couldn't be proved who had dealt the fatal blow!  I ask you! Three pieces of filth beat a man to death and they all walk free from court on a technicality. When are the dozy law makers in this country, going to take their heads out of La La Land, and introduce sensible sentencing for violent crimes? This is what the overwhelming majority of people in this country are demanding.

It is the victim's family, not the killer, who get the life sentence.

Our next march is on Saturday 25th October.  We will march to 10 Downing Street and hand in our petition. We must keep battering away at our wooly minded law makers, that the majority of people in this country, do NOT agree with their view that maggot brained child killers need understanding and rehabilitation. The great majority want these slime buckets LOCKED UP for a very long time, with no parole. If they don't behave in prison, then time should be added on.

We are now touting for sponsors to have our T Shirts and banners made. Our local newspaper has promised to help.

 www.cathy.franklin@btinternet.com

www.busterknight.net

www.tommyslaw.co.uk

www.mamaa.org

  Build more prisons Mr Brown, stop showering money on illegal immigrants that could be put to better use. Protect the people and let them see that justice has been done, and read the comments left by people on my petition site. If  ever you had any doubt as to the feelings of the people of this country, then read these comments.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/petition-sign.cgi?babyryan

My story has been put on the BBC News channel, and can be found at   http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7230382.stm

The sister website to this is www.justiceforryan.bravehost.com

Gordon, now you have received a drubbing in the elections, you say you are going to listen to the people. Then take note of this site, and look at the remarks left by visitors to the petition site. Bring in Ryan's Law NOW and stop the early release of scum prisoners. That is what the people want. ARE YOU LISTENING!!!

It seems he may have been listening. In his preview of the Queen's speech, he said that he would be introducing "A new national coroners service."  Included in this section is "Ryan's Law". Let us hope that he has got the bottle to carry this through. Remember that this was promised last year and the year before. Don't let us down again Gordon!!!

Today I received a letter from Bob Walter MP. It includes the following..."I was very disappointed that a Coroners Bill was not included in the  Queens Speech.  It did appear in the Prime Minister's draft legislative proposal and I fail to understand what happened over the summer that made the government change their minds. I have written to Jack Straw MP, Secretary of State for Justice, asking why a Coroners Bill is not in the governments legislative programme this year when Harriet Harman told me in March that the government was fully committed to coroner reform."

WE AWAIT A REPLY.

We have now received that reply, today 31st January. It is from Bridgett Prentice MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.

The following are extracts......"I am replying as the Minister for coroner policy."..."I am happy to confirm that the government remains committed to reforming the coroners' system, and tackling the sort of issues that caused Ms Franklin so much additional pain. It is unacceptable that she had to wait so long for the release of Ryan's body."......."I regret that we were not able to bring forward the Bill this session.........the bill will be brought before Parliament, if not this session, as soon as Parliamentary time allows."........I am looking at measures to improve the current system in advance of the Bill......I am working to develop a charter for the bereaved for a reformed service."

Comment:  How much time do they require? It has been nearly 6 years since the death of Ryan. If it is unacceptable to wait 18 months to bury a child, why wait all these years to change it. Not enough Parliamentary time? They found plenty of time to vote themselves a pay rise.

[ The site is being upgraded at the moment, and will shortly be relaunched in a different format.]

WHAT FOLLOWS IS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN WE WERE TOLD THAT THE LAW WAS GOING TO BE CHANGED. THERE IS OBVIOUSLY A LOT MORE TO COME WITH THIS STORY.

RYAN FRANKLIN

WE HAVE CHANGED THE LAW

RYAN'S LAW-THE LAW IS GOING TO BE CHANGED -OUR CAMPAIGN HAS SUCCEEDED.  PLEASE SCROLL THROUGH FOR DETAILS

"The Family suffered enormously as Ryan's body lay unburied in a mortuary for 18 months. This was a clear abuse of the law. The government have, eventually, responded to this appalling incident, and announced a change in the law."............Bob Walter  MP  

"Nobody should be allowed to walk this earth who kills a little child"

Ryan's mother had a meeting with our local MP today, to try and get his support for this petition.  He was very helpful in our campaign to get the law changed regarding how long a body can be kept before burial. As you know we managed to get that law changed, so lets hope that we can do it once again.  I was amazed to discover that our MP didn't realise that the Judges recommendation as to how long a prisoner serves before he can apply for parole, counts for nothing.  Once the prisoner is sentenced, it is down to the prison service and parole board as to when he is released. Do the Judges know this?  This is another sneaky law that this government has slipped in without anyone noticing.  Our MP is now going to make enquiries as to what is exactly going on with prisoner releases. A prisoner can get sentenced to 30 years and the Judge can recommend he serve 15 years before being eligible for parole. He may just as well save his breath. If the prison service so wish, they can release him after just one year! What has the justice system come to in this country?  We need murderers, rapists and child abusers locked up for a very long time with no automatic parole. Give these vile people the punishment that they deserve. A punishment handed down by a learned Judge can be reduced to practically nothing by a group of unelected wierdos whose heads are full of magic. If the powers that be want to learn what the majority of people in this country want from the Criminal Justice System, I urge them to read the comments left on the petition web site. If they think that the people of this country think the same way as they do, they will quickly realise how wrong they are.  The people of this country do not want child killers, rapists, paedophiles, and other pieces of scum released part way through a joke of a sentence. They want full and exemplary terms handed down to these people, with no automatic parole. This would be a start in restoring faith in our justice system.

And what about the farce of this scumbag who murdered Phillip Lawrence who will now be released early and allowed to stay in this country, even though he is an Italian national? The human rights act is quoted. Has this government no shame? Repeal this obnoxious piece of legislation and give human rights back to the families of victims of violent crime. Despite the outcry from every right minded person in this country, I know that nothing will be done. It seems that this is what the government want. After all, who appointed the members of this panel that made this decision? Why, our old friend Tony Bliar. And who is the chairman of this panel? Why, nobody but the husband of a cabinet minister. And you think that this is not government policy?

And further to the above, a very important ruling by the High Court was made today. It says, "The parole board is not sufficiently independent of the government...........the board was too close to the government and its decisions were not objective." This ruling is going to have great repercussions, and naturally the Ministry of Justice(sic) is going to appeal against it. It is what I and others have been saying all along, the parole board is appointed and paid by the government and does as it is told. Independent!! In the words of a great philosopher - "Independent, my arse!"

We have just been informed by our MP, Bob Walter, that through your efforts and in the memory of Ryan, the law will be changed. In future it will not be possible to retain the body for more than 40 days, without the consent of the Chief Coroner.  Any decision of that kind can be challenged in the Courts.  The draft Coroners Bill includes:" measures aimed at ensuring early release of bodies by requiring the consent of the Chief Coroner for retention for a prolonged period - this is designed, in particular, to prevent abuses by defendants in criminal cases who might insist that the body is retained on the remote possibility that it may be a significant source of evidence." 

Of course this does not bring back Ryan, but in his memory you have changed the law. It should be noted that the position of Chief Coroner, with jurisdiction over all coroners in England, has been newly created, again as a direct result of our campaign.

I think that this part needs repeating, because this was the whole reason for our campaign

 ".. is designed, in particular, to prevent abuses by defendants in criminal cases who might insist that the body is retained on the remote possibility that it may be a significant source of evidence."

  As previously stated, no second post mortem or medical examination of any kind was undertaken by the defence. Ryan was left lying in a mortuary for 18 months just because the defence thought that there might be a remote chance of something significant turning up to help their case.  Any reasonable person can see that such a law that allows this is not right. Thank God that will now be changed, and no other bereaved Family will be made to suffer further by bloody minded defence barristers.  How do we feel about defence barristers?  Here is a joke.  "What is sad about a bus load of defence barristers going over a cliff?"  "There are 3 empty seats"

We have now received notification from our MP, that this law being brought in will be known officially as RYAN'S LAW.  This information has come direct from the minister concerned, Harriet Harmon.  This will be Ryan's legacy. We have had 3 campaigns running, and we have been successful with 2 of them so far: No1 - We campaigned to get the law changed - The law was changed.   No2 - We campaigned to get the law known officially as Ryan's Law -  This has now been made official.

 When we heard that the piece of scum who killed Ryan was up for parole, we organised an on line petition to put to the parole board to help persuade them to keep him locked up. That decision is imminent. So far it is 2 out of 3. We have just heard that the hearing has been put back until May 23rd. This is just a week before the anniversary of Ryan's death. The powers that be sure know how to time these things.  

So, this lump of slime has slithered out of prison, 5 years to the exact day that he killed little Ryan. How is that for consideration of the Mothers feelings? He was out on bail for 18 months up until he was sentenced. Despite the fact that the Judge  said  that he should serve 4.7 years before he could apply for parole. Despite the fact that he denied the offence, thereby giving his defence team an excuse to delay the burial of Ryan for 18 months, 18 months spent lying in a mortuary. I have been informed that what the Judge says is irrelevant - it's up to the prison service as to the length of sentence. Does this mean that all those recent lengthy terms of imprisonment handed down to terrorists count for nothing? This evil man also refused to admit his guilt. I was under the impression this denial in itself would be enough to deny early release.  But I was even more astounded to learn that even if he did admit what he had done, this confession was confidential, and could not be revealed to no one, not even the victims family. So that's all right then. He can get this worry off his chest, but the dead boys family cannot get any closure. So the killer can get the thought of killing a 2 year old boy off his conscience, with a little chat with his probation officer. He can now leave prison without a stain on his character. He can tell all his friends that he was wrongly convicted and he is an innocent man. Without the confession who is going to know the truth? How are the family going to get any kind of closure?

He will now be given money and a place to live, with all the help and support he can ask for. And what of Ryan's mother? Need you ask - not a sausage. The whole thing stinks. Everything is geared in favour of the perpetrator.

My 2 main points are these: 1. Why do Judges give recommended sentences, when it is the Prison Service who decide the length of sentence?  And who are these unelected self regarding persons who so lightly release these killers back into the community?  2. Why is a convicted killer allowed to keep secret the fact that he had admitted the offence? He can now wander around telling everyone he is an innocent man wrongly convicted.

The whole justice system is malfuntioning. Why is there all this pussyfooting around with convicted killers? Why can't the families of victims receive the same amount of support? We spent a long time campaigning to keep this creature locked up, including an on line petition. From the remarks left by visitors to the site, I know that my views are widely held. When is the government going to listen to what the majority of people in this country want? That is, to treat imprisoned people as CRIMINALS, and not naughty boys. As a final word from a very angry grandfather, this lump of slime is called Lee Khair and he comes from Sheffield.

It is the victims family, not the killer, who get the life sentence. When do I think that his killer should be released? Not until my son comes back, and walks into the living room, with a big smile and a kiss for his mum.

Rest in peace my angel

Tell me there's a heaven

Tell me that it's true

Tell me there's a reason

Why I'm seeing what I do

Tell me there's a heaven

Where all those children go

Tell me they're all happy now

Tell me that it's so

    Ryan's memorial site

http://ryan-franklin.memory-of.com

In answer to several queries, the song you hear is "My love" by westlife

The main campaign is now over, but I think that it is a good idea to give the government a nudge with a little bit of publicity now and then, to make sure this law is brought into being.  What follows on these pages is a record and history of our long struggle with the legal profession.

Messages of support are still very welcome    justice@justiceforryan.com

And if you think that ours is an isolated case, I recently received an email from a grandmother whose 2 year old grandson was murdered by the babysitter.  Once again the legal profession had their wicked way, and refused to allow the boy to be released for burial until a year had passed.  And then to heap further agony on the family, retained the poor boys brain until after the trial!

Therefore the family had to endure 2 burials.  I pray that the change in the law comes in quickly to prevent any further travesties of justice being inflicted on grieving families. I wonder how many more of these terrible events are taking place around the country? If anyone knows of a similar tragic event, perhaps you could let me know and I will enter the main details on this site.  I will not identify you of course. Perhaps we can use this to pressure the government to bring in the much needed legislation more quickly. 

If any visitor to this site has also lost a child, a very good site, which offers help and support, where you can meet fellow sufferers, is at www.mamaa.org

Ryan John Franklin was killed by his father in May 2002, aged just 2 years 3 months, but I was not allowed to bury him until November 2003. Ryan's father's defence team said they needed 'more time' to conduct medical tests. They carried out no such medical tests. Ryan's father was convicted of the killing and received a custodial sentence. The forensic tests carried out by the police took several months and during this time we were not told of the fatal blows to the back of the head which had caused his death.  His killer had claimed that Ryan had fallen down the stairs, and we assumed that the injury to his forehead was the one that was the cause of his death.  Not so.  We were never made aware of the extensive injuries to the back of the head until sometime after his death.  Why was this?  Here was us thinking that it had been a terrible accident,  with the killer in the background laughing his socks off.  If we had known while Ryan was in hospital the extent of his injuries my Dad would have.......well I leave that to your imagination. By the time we knew the true story, that piece of pond life who had killed Ryan, was a 100miles away in an Army barracks.  

 With your help I would like the law changed so a body can be held for no longer than three months, not indefinitely as is the present situation. The law takes the criminal's part, but what of the victims family? 

While my Son was lying in the mortuary this long time, a series of incidents occurred that only increased my sense of despair and helplessness.  There was no way that I could continue to live in the house where my son had died.  I was lucky to have good friends who agreed to exchange houses with me. 

As soon as they moved in, my friends husband, whilst shaving in the bathroom every morning, would hear the noise of someone going downstairs and into the living room.  The first time this happened , he thought that it was his own young son, but on checking he found that his son was fast asleep in bed.  The stereo would be switched on and off, always playing the same song.  A light bulb would burst and the smoke alarm would sound without warning. 

After this had been going on for several weeks, my friends called in a Priest, the same Priest who had christened Ryan and was later to conduct his funeral service.  Father Rice said that because Ryan had not been buried, he was very confused and he was hanging around the house, so prayers would be needed to lay his spirit to rest.  After prayers were said, and Holy water sprinkled, no more unexplained noises were heard. 

This event strengthened my resolve to get the law changed, so that no other Mother, on the loss of her child, should suffer further agony because of the actions of smart alec defence lawyers who should be ashamed of themselves.  The defence requested a hearing before the Judge and asked that the burial be delayed until after the trial, and for some unknown reason the Judge granted this request.  You would think that I would have been informed of this hearing so that I could have been given the chance to have my say on the matter, or arrange to have legal representation to give my side of the case.  But no.  The information that the release of Ryan's body would be indefinitely delayed was given to me by a visit from one of the policeman involved with the case. 

Ryan died at Southampton General Hospital and was retained in the mortuary there.  A little later we discovered that he had been moved to Dorchester.  How did I find this out?  By a chance remark from the funeral director when we were discussing future plans for Ryan.  Would it have been too much trouble to inform his Mother that he was being moved?  When I was informed that the defence would make a post mortem of their own, I was led to believe that once that had taken place, I would be able to bury Ryan.  How did I keep check as to if this 2nd post mortem had taken place?  By asking the funeral director to phone the mortuary at Dorchester on a regular basis and make enquiries.  Why should I have to rely on the enquiries of a very helpful funeral director to keep me informed of actions being taken on the body of my dead son?  It turned out that no 2nd post mortem ever took place, so why did the defence block all efforts by me to have my son buried?  It took 18 months before I could bury my son.  The indescribable prolonged agony of myself and family was caused by the smart talking defence lawyers.   And the final blow came when 3 days after the trial, I discovered that they were releasing Ryan for burial.  How did I find that out?  By a phone call from the funeral director.  So they could inform him but not me direct.  That just about sums up the way Ryan and I have been treated. 

And how could I possibly forget about the many letters exchanged between me and the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.  Silly me thought that these people would help me to get my Son released.  What a shower they turned out to be.  How can the legal profession monitor the legal profession?  They twisted and turned and used every word in the dictionary to justify the refusal to allow me to bury my son.  They twisted and turned so much that I had to appeal to the Ombudsman to try and sort it out.  He sorted it out all right by informing me with words to the effect that I was not a "legal" person, so therefore could not understand the need to retain my sons body.  Does any lay person know the reason?  Come to think of it, I doubt if many legal eagles would either.

  Please show your support to make certain no other families suffer the prolonged anguish mine did. The campaign has now ended, but we still need to keep pressure on the government to bring forward the measures that they have tentatively promised to put in place.  We are doing this mainly via the media.  What follows on these pages is an indication of how we have achieved the position we are in now. If anyone logging on to this site agrees with the aim of our campaign to get the law changed, drop an e mail to your MP, urging them to support a change in the law, and vote for the changes when presented to Parliament, or even better, e mail to Harriet Harmon, at general.queries@dca.qsi.gov.uk  so that no other family suffers so grievously in the future. We have had some feedback that some visitors to this site are doing just that and mailing their MPs.  It does not matter which party your MP belongs to, as this is a completely non political campaign.   It is purely at the whim of the defence barrister as to whether a burial can be indefinitely delayed , in this case for 18 months, for no apparent reason other than that they can! Lets put a stop to this nonsense.

                                              We recently organised a sponsored walk to raise funds for the benefit of Southampton paediatric intensive care unit, which was where Ryan spent his last days. It seems that this hospital has 17 intensive care units for dangerously ill children, mostly with serious head wounds, but only 13 are in use because of the shortage of funds!!  What are these funds being spent on that is more important than the life saving treatment of very sick children!! 

 A good crowd turned up to do the 6 mile walk and the weather was kind.  Today  a cheque for £1407-30 was handed over to a member of the nursing staff.  Our thanks to the walkers and all who sponsored them.

We are staging another event to raise money for Southampton General Hospital paediatric intensive care unit on the 6th November. Under the slogan, "Your bid could save a kid", 10 men and 10 women are to be auctioned off to the highest bidder at a "Slave Auction".  Each successful bidder will have a willing worker for a period of 4 hours. 

This was a very successful fund raising night.  There is to be a Karaoke night this coming Saturday, and a "Murder - Mystery" evening next month. All proceeds going to the PICU charity. Total money raised will be published on this site.  Thanks to everybody who has supported these events.  A cheque for £640.45 was sent to the hospital today.

I would like to think that this bill is only being brought in because of the campaign and pressure from the media and the public.  If it changes such an evil law then the whole country will be glad.  My thanks to all of you who sent messages of support and who signed our petition in the early days.  It seems that petitions can make a difference!   

Today, 23rd May, as published on the front page of our local newspaper, Bournemouth Daily Echo, the Coroner is taking his own action to prevent this despicable type of delay ever happening again.  Here is the gist of it.

[NEVER AGAIN.  Coroner takes a risk to spare others the trauma suffered by mum of tragic Ryan.  A Coroner was so distressed by the case of a toddler whose body had to be kept in a mortuary for 18 months, that he has risked a legal challenge in a bid to spare other families the same trauma.  West Dorset coroner Michael Johnston has commissioned extra post-mortem examinations off his own bat in a bid to avoid the kind of torment which faced the family of tragic two-year old Ryan Franklin.  He will commission second post-mortems so that the body can be released to the family. "I have put my neck on the line a couple of times to try and prevent it happening again.  So far I've got away with it.  Someone could take me to the Court of Appeal, it seems to me, but I think that's a small price to pay." 

West Country coroner Mr Johnston was involved in the case of Ryan Franklin who died at the hands of his father in May 2002.  Mr Johnston had wanted to release Ryan's body to his mother Cathy Franklin, but defence lawyers blocked the move.  A Judge ruled that the body should not be released until after the trial was finished in case defence experts wanted a further examination.  "I was horrified at what went on with Cathy and the little baby.  It was scandalous, the victims are trampled on.  I wrote to the Home Office and got a very shaky response.  They were not going to back me if I released the body.  The defence team never did have the body examined again but I knew even if they did, it wouldn't have shown anything."}

Comment:  From the horses mouth - a breakdown of the dreadful way my family and I  have been treated.  If the coroner can find a legal way to alleviate these situations, why the hell cant the Home Office issue guidance along these lines?   

This action was taken by the Coroner before the change in the law was announced.

justice@justiceforryan.com

Robert Walter has now presented this petition to Parliament. 

Mr Robert Walter(North Dorset): " Baby Ryan Franklin died at the hands of his father in May 2002, aged two.  His body lay in a mortuary for a further 18 months, awaiting a second post mortem, which never took place-until a trial resulted in his father, Lee Khair, being convicted of his manslaughter.  The childs Mother, my constituent, Cathy Franklin of Blandford, was outraged that she could not lay her baby to rest and has collected a petition, with 1000 signatures, demanding a change in the law, as well as many hundreds of e-mails.

The petition reads:

To the House of Commons,

The petition of Cathy Franklin and others,

Declares that after the death of Ryan John Franklin, his family were unable to bury him for nearly two years while time was made available for two post mortems to be carried out, and that the delay to his burial was the cause of great suffering.

The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons pass legislation to make provision for post mortem arrangements in cases of violent death; and to limit to three months the time allowed for a second post mortem to be carried out before the body is released for burial."

And the petitioners remain etc.

To lie upon the table.

9 Sept 2004 : Column 955

Letter from Bob Walter MP

"The Government understands very well the deep distress that can be caused where the funeral of a victim of crime is delayed.  Most coroners post mortem examinations take place within a day or two of the death, allowing the funeral to take place as soon as possible thereafter.  However, if a crime has been committed, it may be in the interests of justice for the funeral to be deferred pending completion of the police investigation and any additional post mortem examination that any defendant may wish to have performed.

In order to help reduce delays in such cases to the minimum, Home Office guidance was issued in 1999 recommending that, unless the victims body could be released sooner, coroners should arrange a second post mortem after 28 days and release the body, if no-one had by then been charged in connection with the death.  The police, the Crown Prosecution Service, pathologists and coroners were urged to give all such cases priority. 

In general, this guidance has been found to be helpful, but the government is considering whether further steps including legislative steps might be taken to reduce delay for the victims family, while still providing proper safeguards for those accused of serious crime."

My comments:  Further legislation is urgently needed to prevent too clever by half defence barristers trying every underhand trick in the book, to build a case of defence for an obviously guilty piece of scum, unaware or more likely, not caring about the further anguish being heaped upon grieving families.

I repeat, no 2nd post mortem was carried out by the defence or any medical examination whatsoever. Moreover, no medical experts were called by the defence at the trial.  The defence was based on trying to debunk expert witnesses for the prosecution. The defence barrister tried to explain Ryan's extensive bruising as having been caused by the ambulance paramedics and the hospital doctors and nurses, which was a nonsense, as they had all provided exemplary medical care. But there was no way he could try and explain away the extensive head injuries.  Now that gives you the measure of the defence barristers intelligence. He then had the audacity to appeal against sentence, which was given short shift by the Appeal Court Judges. May the murderer now rot in hell.

Thanks to everyone who sent messages of support.  Further messages are still welcome, and will be forwarded to Robert Walter MP.

We have just heard that we have been refused legal aid to take our case to the European Court of Human Rights. The fact that Ryan lay undisturbed in a mortuary for 1 year and 6 months at the insistence of the defence, the fact that no medical examination of any kind was undertaken by the defence, the fact that no expert medical witnesses were called by the defence at the trial, none of these things were judged to be "wrong".   All these actions we are told were in "the interests of justice".  What utter rubbish.   

Comments from professional people involved in the case.

"I believe that Catherine Franklin and her family were subjected to the most unacceptable pain and anguish after the death of Ryan.  What happened to the Franklins is unacceptable and must not happen again."   Robert Walter MP for North Dorset

"The victims rights have been totally ignored.  Defence team have not followed the guidelines at all, the Criminal Justice system has overruled the coroner."   DCI Stanger, Daily Echo 041103

"Despite the stated necessity of the retention of Ryan's body, no second post mortem was ever conducted by the defence.  It was hugely distressing for the family, and a particularly difficult thing for us to deal with during the progress of the investigation."   DI Cooper, Meridian TV News

"....the situation is intolerable, the rights of the victims family have been trampled upon in a way that I find totally unacceptable and I am going to report this to the Home Office, because this must not happen again."   Michael Johnston,    Coroner for West Dorset

"...18 months after the tragedy , Miss Franklin is now able to bury her son."   Western Gazette, 041103

"There must be something wrong with the legal system which puts a family through such suffering...and I think that the criminal justice system needs changing."   Father John Rice at the Funeral Service,051103

Comments from visitors to this site.

"I would like to see a change in such a barbaric law. How awful that lawyers could prevent the burial on a technical point."   Sdalbertson

"No one should have to  have something like this go for so long."   Caroline Harding

"If ever there was a perversion of justice, this case must surely qualify.  It cannot be right to show such disrespect to any human being, especially to a child in such terrible circumstances."   Duggienmates

"This is disgusting, why was this little boy not put to rest a long time ago?"   Kitty

"No family should go through a situation like this."   Fsusan

"...I am absolutely horrified that the legal system can perpetrate and lengthen such an awful ordeal for Ryan's mum."   Liz Tredrea

"...Like you and thousands more,  I think our laws are for the criminal and not the innocent."   Gloria Hellyer

"I support the suggested changes in the law."   Jacqui Andrews

"I fail to believe the courts in this country, when over and over again, the rights of the criminal come before that of the victims family."   Cheekychick

"I was appalled to hear of this travesty."   J Grant

"I am absolutely horrified that the legal system can perpetuate and lengthen such an awful ordeal for Ryan's Mum and family."  Elizabeth Tredrea

"I read with absolute shock about what you and your family went through.  I am appalled that something like this could happen to victims of crime"   Rachel E

"How on earth was this situation ever allowed to happen?  The criminal justice system and everything that comes from it and around it, is a mess."  David

"We saw how hard it is for you to relive your stories for the press, but sometimes it is the only way to make people understand how hard it is for the victims of these terrible crimes."  Lyn and Roger

"I think it's a disgrace the way there was nothing anyone could do for you or your son. 18 months is extremely long and extremely wrong."  Emma

Any further messages of support I will add to this site.

Messages of support have also been received from Andorra, Australia, Channel Islands, Eire, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, AND the USA