Baby grave vandalism 'like losing daughter again'

A Nottinghamshire mother whose late baby’s headstone was targeted by "disgraceful" vandals says the experience has been like "losing her all over again".

Laura Griffin’s daughter Poppy was buried at Sutton Cemetery in Sutton-in-Ashfield after she died prematurely in 2014, aged just 26 weeks and six days.

The teddy bear headstone was found smashed and severely damaged at the Huthwaite Road burial site on Thursday.

The 30-year-old, from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, said finding out about the ordeal on Facebook had been “traumatic” for her family.

Mrs Griffin, who had worked to pay for the headstone herself, said she has considered getting Poppy’s coffin exhumed and moved elsewhere.

"I just cried when I found out," she said. "My friend had to carry me home because my legs just went from beneath me. Everything was a blur.

"It’s just so traumatic when you’ve got a child that you shouldn’t have lost in the first place and then this happens to their grave.

"I lost her through a traumatic experience and it just took me back to the day I lost her. I had to get over that hurdle then I saved so hard to be able to buy a headstone by myself.

"It’s broken our family."

Nottinghamshire Police said it understands the vandals targeted the grave between 16:00 GMT on Wednesday and 08:00 on Thursday.

A fundraising campaign that has been launched in an effort to pay for a new headstone has raised almost £2,000 for the family.

Mrs Griffin said she wants Ashfield District Council to do more to stop similar incidents happening again.

She added: "I grieve every day for my daughter. I was 19 when I had her and I lost her. I think about her daily and she’s never far from my thoughts.

"I’m very grateful and if I could thank every individual person [for donating] I would. I am so overwhelmed by the kindness of people who don’t even know me.

"The council needs to do more. I want them to lock more gates. They lock the main entrance but you can get in through the church way.”

The council said it was "taking this incident very seriously".

Charles Edwards, executive director for operations at Ashfield District Council said: "This disgraceful behaviour is absolutely unacceptable, and we are now in the process of reaching out to the families involved to offer our support."

Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.