Heartbroken after theft from grave

THE mother of a young Scots soldier who died at Deepcut Barracks has been left “heartbroken” after a thief stole a lantern from his grave at Christmas.

Yvonne Heath’s son Private James Collinson, 17, from Perth, was found dead at the Surrey army base in March 2002.

Mrs Heath, who now lives in Cheshire, visited his grave in Perth’s Jeanfield Cemetery on Christmas Day.

However, when she returned on Boxing Day, she found a lantern she had left burning had been stolen, along with its secured stand.

Mrs Heath posted a picture on Facebook, with the words: “Another visit with my eldest this morning again...only to find some low-life has stolen one of his lanterns....including the stand! I have no words...”

She said the theft was “souldestroying” and appealed for the object to be returned.

“We went first thing on Christmas Day and lit candles and went back and one of the lanterns had been stolen, along with the stand that it was on,” she said.

“We’d just put fresh candles in and lit them. There were two of them and one of them is still there, the other is gone.

“It’s soul-destroying, really upsetting. Why anybody would want to do that really is devastating.

“It might just be a lantern but it means so much. It would be really nice if they would return it.”