Mansfield family devastated as baby's grave trashed by vandals

Teddy-Jay Jackson-Wilson was born sleeping at 33 weeks on December 26 and was laid to rest at the Derby Road crematorium in Mansfield on January 11.

Visiting the grave on the afternoon of Friday February 4, grandmother Nikki Jackson found his resting place had been trashed and his flowers and ornaments had been thrown around the plot.

The devastated family shared the image of Teddy-Jay’s grave on social media and have now appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Nikki explained: “I went up at around 5pm on Friday and found the mess.

"I was so angry and absolutely heartbroken – how could someone do this to a baby’s grave?”

Nikki says a friend had visited another grave in the area at around 2pm that afternoon and said that she had not noticed any obvious damage, however the incident may have happened any time from 8.30pm on Thursday February 3 until it was discovered at 5pm on the Friday.

Teddy-Jay’s mum Kaci Jackson, 17, is being comforted by relatives while police investigate the vandalism.

"We have reported it to the police, but we haven’t found any CCTV evidence yet, so if anyone in the area has any, please get in touch with them,” Nikki continued.

"We are all heartbroken – we had only put the new fence posts and stone around it to make it look nice the Sunday before.

"I can’t believe someone could do this to a family who have already been through so much.”

A spokesperson from Nottinghamshire Police confirmed they are investigating an incident of criminal damage at a grave at Mansfield Crematorium on Derby Road.

Inspector Kylie Davies, district commander for Mansfield, said: “This incident will have caused considerable distress to an already grieving family and my thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.

"Officers are investigating what happened and I would urge anyone with additional information to make contact with us by calling 101 and quoting incident 585 of 4 February 2022.

"Anyone wishing to provide information anonymously can do so by contacting the independent UK charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111, or by going online at crimestoppers-uk.org and filling out a form.”

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