Family horrified to find man’s headstone stolen
MEMORIAL TO MURDER VICTIM REPLACED BY STONEMASON
THE family of a man who was murdered three years ago were disgusted to find the headstone had been stolen from his grave.
Mark Swinhoe’s relatives made the discovery at Loughborough Cemetery.
Shelly Robinson, the partner of Mark’s brother Jamie, said: “Jamie came over to tell me and I didn’t believe him. When I went over to check myself I was just shocked that someone would do that.”
Officials told the couple they had assumed the headstone had been taken for cleaning and that it had been gone for at least two weeks.
Mark was fatally stabbed in Loughborough in January 2018. It emerged in court that he had been struggling for money and had set out to rob a drug dealer.
However, his plan backfired when he was outnumbered and attacked by a group of men from the drug-dealing gang.
The gang’s members were jailed following the trial at Leicester Crown Court in July 2019.
Shelly said: “When Mark died the body wasn’t released because it was evidence so no one really grieved until after the trial.”
A year later, Jamie lost two key people in his life, his uncle and his best friend. Then, earlier this year, his dad, Rick, died.
Shelly described finding the headstone missing as “especially triggering” after what has already been a tough few years for Jamie. He visits his brother’s place of rest regularly and had planned to place his dad’s ashes at the side of the grave. But now he is reluctant to do so.
“We’ve had problems before with people taking things from Mark’s grave, but to take the headstone, I just think it’s disgusting,” Shelly said.
She shared what happened on a remembrance page set up for Mark in the hope someone would be able to help.
A few days later, she was contacted by a stonemason, Aaron Patterson, of Loughborough firm Marco’s Memorials, who had seen the post.
“He offered to gift a replacement with an inscription and everything so we could have it there for Christmas Day,” Shelly said.
“It’s nice to know there are good people out there and we don’t have to worry about it over the holiday.
“We just hope it doesn’t happen again.”