Family's shock after grave vandals strike
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A WICK father was “almost physically sick” and his wife “devastated” when they discovered their son’s grave had been vandalised – just days after the burial.
David and Cathryn Fairweather were shocked that cards were removed from a family wreath which was found almost 200 yards away. David described what occurred as “despicable” and said they could not understand why it had happened.
“There is no reason or explanation for this,” he told the Caithness Courier.
The couple’s 38-year-old son, Michael Fairweather, died suddenly at his home in Castlegreen Road in Thurso on May 31. His funeral service was held at Pulteneytown Parish Church last Tuesday and he was interred at Wick cemetery.
David and Cathryn, who stay at South Head, visited their son’s grave every day after the funeral and were horrified when they went to the cemetery on Saturday morning.
A wreath with the word “DAD” on it was removed, even though it had been secured to the ground. It was found 150 to 200 yards away from the grave.
Two cards – one written by Michael’s 16-year-old daughter and the other written by his former partner on behalf of their two young boys – had been pulled out and thrown on to other wreaths.
The two boys were too young to attend the funeral so arrangements were made to take them to the cemetery on Saturday morning.
“They were going to have their own little memorial to their dad, release balloons and place little teddy bears on the grave. They were ?coming down at 1pm with their 16-year-old sister, Michael’s former partner Lynsey and her mother,” said David.
“We went along to the cemetery about 11am and when we discovered what happened went straight to the police station. The police were very good. They said they would make enquiries and gave us permission to return the wreath and cards to the grave.
“Everything went well when the youngsters and the immediate family were there but we were very hurt by what was done.
“There is no reason and no explanation for this. How people can do that is beyond me. It is despicable. We just don’t know why it happened.
“We just want whoever did this to realise what they have done. They have made a sad situation even worse. We were really upset. I was almost physically sick and my wife was devastated.
“It has been a hard enough week without this happening on top of it.”
Michael came from Wick but lived in Thurso for about 15 years and worked as a creel fisherman. Over £500 was collected for the Fishermen’s Mission in Scrabster on the day of his funeral.
A spokesman for the Highland Council yesterday offered his sympathy and apologies to the Fairweather family and said he would contact the police and ask officers to do some extra patrols there.
“It is possible this has been done by adolescents who do not realise the implications and gravity of what they have done. I would hope it is just a one-off,” he said.
A Wick-based spokesman for Northern Constabulary yesterday confirmed that a report had been made to the police and permission given to Mr Fairweather to replace the wreath and cards.
