Mother 'devastated' as tribute to son is stolen

A mother from East Sussex says she is "devastated" that a tribute statue to her late son has been stolen.

Marilyn Bennett, from Seaford, said on Thursday morning she noticed the metal swan statue in her garden was no longer there.

The statue had been placed on a stand in the garden in memory of her son Gavin Woodhead, who died in 2023 aged 42.

She said: "It was a terrible shock. In fact, I just laid in bed and thought how? What happened? How did they do it?"

Mrs Bennett added: "It's hard to think that we may never see it again."

She explained that she and her husband Peter had been "unnerved" by the experience, as someone would have entered their gated garden.

Gavin's stepfather Mr Bennett said he thought the theft was "despicable".

Sussex Police told the BBC the incident was reported to them on 10 April.

"The informant believed it had been stolen at some point over the last two days previous from her front garden in Belgrave Road, Seaford," they added.

The force urged anyone with information to contact them.

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