A BENCH to commemorate the life of a little boy from Blandford cut tragically short has been unveiled in the town’s Woodhouse Gardens.

The memorial to two-year-old Ryan Franklin, killed by his father in 2002, was unveiled by North Dorset MP Bob Walter and town mayor Cllr Lynn Lindsay.

Mr Walter told those gathered in the gardens the bench would also mark the tireless campaigning of Ryan’s mum, Cathy.

Cathy’s campaign for Ryan’s Law – a change to coroner’s law that will prevent the bodies of loved ones being retained pending a criminal trial – is about to go before the House of Lords.

Mr Walter described Cathy as “a brick” and paid tribute to her strength of character in enduring the “appalling situation” of an 18-month wait to bury Ryan until his father was convicted of manslaughter.

Cathy thanked Mr Walter and Cllr Lindsay, and the Stour Valley Rotary Club, for their support and pledged to continue her campaign for tougher sentences for killers.

Work to establish victim support charity Mothers Against Murder And Aggression (Mamaa) in Dorset was escalating, Cathy told the Daily Echo.

Mamaa’s co-founder, Lyn Costello, had travelled from London to show her support for Cathy at the unveiling ceremony. Ms Costello told the Daily Echo its readers could all help in the battle against a more violent society The pair has worked closely in setting up the Dorset branch of the charity and hope to form close links with the county’s police.

TV presenter Jeremy Kyle will be one of a host of celebrities at a black-tie ball to raise money for Mamaa at Bournemouth’s Carrington House Hotel next May.

To find out more, go to ukcharityballs.co.uk, or mamaa.org.uk.