Call for flat gravestones after Lancashire boy’s cemetery death

The parents of a boy who died after a gravestone fell on him want the law to be changed so headstones are laid flat.

Jessica and Thomas Testa say there should be more safety checks after their four-year-old son Eli died at Rawtenstall Cemetery in Lancashire in July.

They have launched a petition calling for the government to introduce changes, with Mrs Testa telling BBC Radio Lancashire: “If they do wobble, then do something about it – don’t just leave it.”

“We want to make cemeteries safe, so no big monuments – make them either flat to the ground… or only have them a certain height.”

“So if we can’t have them laid flat, then have them quite small because I just don’t think there’s a need for a massive statue for a gravestone.

“There’s just no need for it at all,” she added.

The family recently met the parents of eight-year-old Ciaran Williamson, who died in a similar incident at a cemetery in Scotland in 2015.

Since then, headstone-testing was introduced across Scotland and unstable ones were laid flat in a number of cemeteries, although decisions to topple them without relatives’ knowledge proved controversial.

“Because Scotland has its own legislation, that’s not followed through to the rest of England, Wales, Northern Ireland,” Mr Testa said.

“If it had, maybe things would be different but we’re just trying to raise awareness that cemeteries aren’t as safe as you think they are and just to be vigilant.

“This problem is only going to get worse as time goes on because the headstones are only getting older.

“And if they’re not getting checked adequately or have robust enough checks, then they’re just going to become more dangerous over time.”

Mrs Testa described her son as the “perfect boy”, adding: “Ever since he was a baby, he was so happy. He was never sad, never upset, never cried. He loved the water.”

She said her son, who was autistic and “kind of non-verbal”, was learning to speak some words including mummy and daddy.

“He just loved going to nursery. He was happy, joyful, bright… so now it kind of feels like the world’s gone silent because he was such a noisy child.”

Mr Testa said “every day is a struggle” but they were trying to “make life as normal as possible” for their two other children.

Eli’s older brother was with him when the gravestone fell.

The couple said their one-year-old daughter will “smile at pictures” of Eli.

Their father said: “She thinks he’s almost on the phone when she sees a picture, she waves to him and I think she’s expecting him to come through the door at any minute.”