Son's plea after soil dumped on man's grave

Flowers and cards "tossed aside" and a pile of earth placed on top of their dad's grave are what awaited the family of Christopher Cooper when they went to visit.

Freddie Cooper, son of Christopher, made the trip to Saffron Hill Cemetery on Father's Day, 15 June, only to discover the mess caused when a new grave had been dug next to his plot.

He has decided to speak out in the hope of what he believes should be improved work practices at the cemetery in Leicester.

The family made a complaint to Leicester City Council and the authority apologised "for any distress caused".

Christopher died at the age of 68 in 2023 and Freddie went to visit his grave in early June, on what would have been Christopher's birthday.

He did not expect to return a week later to find the grave had been covered in a pile of earth.

Freddie said he believes the soil was left there for four to five days, but cannot be certain.

The 37-year-old said: "It was a really big mound of mud, placed close to the place where he's buried and when we got closer we realised it was actually on top of his grave.

"Cemetery staff had moved all the flowers and cards and just tossed them to the side and piled a load of mud on my dad's grave - obviously digging the grave next to it.

"They just left us with a big mess."

Freddie believes there was enough space on the wider grassed area to put the freshly dug earth.

He added: "It only takes a minute of extra thinking to say, put it behind us, it's Father's Day."

In a statement, Leicester City Council said: "It is common practice in all cemeteries that when digging a grave for a burial there will be occasions when the soil needs to be temporarily placed on an adjacent grave.

"This would be for a very short time only, and the soil would be placed on boards to ensure no damage was caused.

"The soil is always removed as soon as possible after the adjacent burial has taken place".

"We do, however, apologise, for any distress caused in this instance and we have contacted the family to apologise. We can offer the assurance that the soil has been removed without any damage to the grave."

Freddie, from Claybrooke Magna in Leicestershire, said he would accept an apology from the council or cemetery if he had been given one.

He said: "I'd like to see a bit of common sense used and a bit of respect shown for people's graves in the future.

"From what they say it is standard procedure but I don't think it's morally right to be decimating graves when they had plenty of space to put the mud elsewhere."

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