Our brightest star is dead ...
Dad’s anguish after son and mum found at Beachy Head
THE grieving father of a fiveyear-old boy who died with his mother at Beachy head says he is suffering more than ‘anyone else can imagine’.
he yesterday described his anguish after Cheryl Tompsett, 42, fatally plunged from the 530ft clifftop holding their ‘precious’ son Leo.
Their bodies were found at 6am on Monday just hours after the pair were reported missing from their home in Maidstone, Kent. Leo’s body was discovered on a ledge half way down the cliff near Eastbourne, East Sussex. his mother’s body was recovered from the beach by a lifeboat crew.
Leo’s father, who did not want to be named, issued a statement through Sussex Police, saying: ‘With more sadness and hurt than anyone can imagine, our precious Leo, who was our shining light, our brightest star, has had his life cut short. We all miss him an amount beyond what anyone else can imagine and would request that our privacy is respected at this very difficult time.’
Miss Tompsett is understood to have moved out of the family home some time ago. It remains unclear if Leo’s parents were still together.
Police discovered the family’s Fiat Punto in a nearby car park around 2am on Monday after they drove 50 miles from their home to the beauty spot.
Miss Tompsett worked as an emotional wellbeing specialist for Ashfordbased charity CXK in Kent, which helps people get jobs or on to educational courses. She had been in her role ten months prior to her death.
Chief executive Pauline Smith said: ‘We are shocked and saddened by the news and we would like to send the family our sympathies.’
one neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It is really upsetting and sad news for all concerned. I’m not sure she still lives here, I last saw her about two years ago.’
Another resident said the deaths were ‘deeply saddening’ and that she was a ‘level-headed family woman’.
Early reports suggested that Leo was disabled, but police said yesterday this was not the case.
Detective Inspector Simon Dunn said: ‘our investigation continues in this tragic case. however, at this time, there is nothing to suggest that anyone else was involved in their deaths. Detectives are in the process of piecing together the last moments of their lives.’
The tragedy comes after reports three bodies were found at the bottom of Beachy head – the highest chalk cliff in Britain – on June 13.
Emergency services were first alerted at 3.32pm and, with assistance from the Eastbourne RNLI inshore lifeboat, recovered the body of a 58-year- old man from London.
Shortly after 5pm, while this was in progress, a second, badly decomposed body, believed to be that of a woman, was found nearby.
Then some 40 minutes later a third body, believed to be that of another man from London, was discovered some distance away. Police say the deaths are not being treated as suspicious and are not connected.
‘He had his life cut short’