efq
16-03-2008, 02:33 PM
A mechanical digger had to be used to lower a 52-stone man into his grave at Taunton in Somerset today.
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1660562.jpgMr Jeffrey is laid to rest One person attended the funeral of 29-year-old John Christian Jeffrey, who was found dead at a hostel late last month. Mr Jeffrey had no known relatives so his funeral was paid for by the local council. Rev Geoff Boucher read a number of prayers in the short service, saying: "The most important thing for us was that he was allowed to be laid to rest in dignity. It was the least he deserved." An inscription on the coffin read "Peace, perfect peace". Cemetery workers took four hours to lower the casket into the hole, which took four days to dig. The coffin was constructed with reinforced MDF and at 4ft by 7ft was twice the size of a typical coffin. Dave Butler, who has worked at St James Cemetery for four years, said his team took days to dig the grave with the help of a digger. "It usually takes us two days at most to prepare graves - and that's when they've been dug by hand," he said. "It's a tragic story that he was so young yet had no friends or relatives - but at least we've given him a good send-off." Mr Jeffrey was believed to originally be from London but had been living rough in Taunton.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1309315,00.html
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1660562.jpgMr Jeffrey is laid to rest One person attended the funeral of 29-year-old John Christian Jeffrey, who was found dead at a hostel late last month. Mr Jeffrey had no known relatives so his funeral was paid for by the local council. Rev Geoff Boucher read a number of prayers in the short service, saying: "The most important thing for us was that he was allowed to be laid to rest in dignity. It was the least he deserved." An inscription on the coffin read "Peace, perfect peace". Cemetery workers took four hours to lower the casket into the hole, which took four days to dig. The coffin was constructed with reinforced MDF and at 4ft by 7ft was twice the size of a typical coffin. Dave Butler, who has worked at St James Cemetery for four years, said his team took days to dig the grave with the help of a digger. "It usually takes us two days at most to prepare graves - and that's when they've been dug by hand," he said. "It's a tragic story that he was so young yet had no friends or relatives - but at least we've given him a good send-off." Mr Jeffrey was believed to originally be from London but had been living rough in Taunton.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1309315,00.html