A FATHER whose son died in an accident only two days before Christmas says he is devastated by the theft of items from his son’s grave.

Kevin Crick said he was deeply upset to find that a bottle of cider placed at the grave of his son, Robert, in Rillington Cemetery, had been stolen.

The same thing happened again a few days later when Mr Crick put another bottle on the grave in tribute to his son, who died in a crash on the morning of December 23, last year.

Mr Crick, 54, said that the family were very much still coming to terms with the death of Robert and could not understand why someone would want to take a memento from his grave.

He said: “It is the lowest of the low and such an awful thing to do.

“Robert liked to have a drink of cider, so we put a bottle on his grave. It is our way of paying tribute to him.

“It doesn’t matter whether it is a bottle of cider or an ornament, it is a despicable thing to do. We are all still getting over it and for someone to do something like that, we just think it is so disrespectful.”

Robert, 21, was riding his moped along the A64 close to West Knapton at about 7.50am on December 23 when he was involved in a collision with a Mitsubishi Chamonix people carrier.

The former Norton College pupil was airlifted to hospital in Middlesbrough, but died later that day. He worked at Todd Waste Management, East Knapton, as a weighbridge operator.

Mr Crick said that Robert’s brother, Martin, 24, likes to have a drink with his brother in the cemetery and that the thefts have caused distress in the family and left everyone extremely upset.

He said: “It has been so upsetting. Whoever has done this has caused a lot of upset by taking these things as it means so much to us. It’s a sick thing to do.”

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “Stealing from graves is a cruel and heartless act which causes great distress to grieving families.

“Any report of theft is treated seriously by us, and the courts have shown that they also take a dim view of offences of this nature.”