Police Find Body Of Schoolboy Ian Bell In River Wear please log in to view this image Police have confirmed that a body found in a river is that of missing schoolboy Ian Bell. Ian, eight, fell into the swollen River Wear near Willington, County Durham, on April 27. Durham Police said the body was recovered downstream from Page Bank Bridge. A spokesman said: "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Ian's family at this difficult period. "Durham Constabulary would also like to thank all those involved in the search for Ian and ask that the family is left in peace at this very sad time." The coroner has been informed and an inquest will be held in due course, police confirmed. Ian, from Sunnybrow, County Durham, was playing with friends when he was swept away. Search specialists joined police and dozens of members of the public to look for the schoolboy, without success. A detailed search of the river and its banks has been carried out during the past week downstream past Durham to Chester-le-Street. RIP son
I've been following this story.... Fell from a tree...........April 27th till now..long time for the family to wait for the inevitable.... Sad story.
I have a 7 year old little girl and stories like this send a shiver down my spine. I'm not that hard to admit that this news brought a tear to my eye, as I can as a father understand the heartache and grief his poor parents will be going through right now. Is there a God? Not in my world there isn't and especially when things like this can happen and yet there are still scum bags the likes of which beat up that 94 year old woman last week, still allowed to roam free. Rest in peace young fella.
The only good thing in a sad story is closure Gil, the news he was found would take away a faint hope but the not knowing must be even worse. My grandson is 8 in August and I simply cant imagine the pain.
As a youngster I had a friend who died in almost similar circumstances, he also fell into the river and the current took him 'away', can never forget it to this day, this story bring's it all back. Now having moved away from the UK for a while and now in Cape Town, I happened to stubble across a person (through business) who had a striking resemblence to that lost friend (who drowned) and coincidently he had the same (full) name. I'm not making this up, seriously eerie.
A MUM who strangled her young son to death told how she hallucinated and heard voices in her head at the time of the tragedy. Melanie Ruddell walked into a police station carrying the body of two-year-old Christy, an inquest heard. The 39-year-old was in such a state of helplessness that she took the toddler’s life after failing to take her own. Speaking publicly for the first time about the horrific incident – via video link from a secure unit – Ms Ruddell said: “I felt anxious and I was frightened for Christy. “I was confused, very confused. I heard voices and screaming. “I was scared to a level as though I was hanging off a cliff. I was exhausted.” The inquest at Sunderland Civic Centre, which is continuing today, was told it was following the break-up of her marriage to husband Alan that Ms Ruddell’s mental state worsened. After initial concerns from friends and family, she went to hospital for treatment. After being seen by a doctor, she discharged herself in a rush to be reunited with her son, who was with her brother at his home in West Rainton. It was there that she killed the toddler before taking him to Peterlee Police station. “The doctor said he would like me to see the team of people at the hospital,” she added. “I said ‘I’ve got to get back to Christy.’ I just couldn’t think properly. “I wanted the police to come and protect us, but at two in the morning I thought ‘that’s it, we’re going to be separated for ever and ever.’ “Everything was hopeless.” Her friend Carol-Ann Beeston also gave evidence at the hearing, of how she tried in vain to keep Ms Ruddell at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, knowing she needed professional help. “She was so deranged at this point,” said Ms Beeston. “She was talking a load of gobbledygook.” Coroner Derek Winter yesterday formally re-opened the inquest into Christy’s death, at Sunderland Civic Centre. The hearing, which is being attended by many friends and family of the youngster, is expected to last two weeks. After originally been charged with Christy’s murder in August 2010, prosecutors accepted Ms Ruddell’s guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Newcastle Crown Court heard how Ruddell took Christy’s body to Peterlee police station. Mr Justice McCombe sentenced Ruddell, formally of Castle Eden, to an indefinite hospital order where she has been receiving treatment for her illness.
