Wayne Seeley: Paraglider's memorial stone disappears

Police are investigating the disappearance of a memorial stone dedicated to one of the UK's top paragliders who crashed to his death.

The family of Wayne Seeley are offering a £500 reward for information leading to the return of the plaque removed from Selsley Common near Stroud.

Mr Seeley, 41, died in June 2020 after hitting power lines close to his home at nearby Eastington.

He had been paragliding for 25 years, having started at the age of 16.

Within a few weeks of his death, the memorial was installed on the north side of Selsley Common, an area popular with paragliders, inscribed: "In memory of Wayne Seeley, Flying High".

An inquest held in January 2021 into Mr Seeley's death heard that he made a tragic error of judgement and crashed into overhead power cables shortly after ringing his fiancée from the air and asking her to come outside and watch him land near their home.

Leanna Bishop went into the garden and looked up as he descended towards the local school playing field in Eastington, but was horrified to see his harness touch the high voltage cables.

She saw sparks fly from his harness, followed by a large bang and a cloud of smoke and was told a short time later that he had died.

An inquest recorded his death as accidental.

The theft of the memorial from countryside a short distance from the scene of his death was reported to Gloucestershire Police on 7 October.

Family friend Tony Glastonbury said: "Wayne's father went to Selsley Common to sit by the memorial to remember him.

"His family, friends and members of the paragliding clubs are upset and horrified that someone would go to the effort of removing his memorial.

"We are offering a £500 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person responsible for this."

He often took photographs while flying and was well known for some of the stunning images he had captured.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesperson said: "We have received a report that a granite memorial stone which was on Selsley Common had been removed."

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.

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