SIR,
A good friend of mine whom I hadn't seen for several years approached me a week or so ago in the village of Redbrook.
He asked me if I had heard about the traffic accident that occurred on the Wye Valley road between Redbrook and Bigweir Bridge a number of weeks previous in which a motorbike rider was fatally injured.
I told him that I had heard about it and that I was at home in Redbrook when the emergency services closed the road for several hours.
He explained that the person on the motorbike was his brother. He was understandably extremely upset.
He went on to tell me that the shrine which had been assembled by friends and family consisting of flowers and tributes to his brother had since been vandalised and an Arsenal football shirt had been stolen.
I was gobsmacked. How could someone do this?
The shrine was situated not far from The Florence Hotel.
In order for someone to stop and do this would not only have been difficult but extremely dangerous, meaning that someone had gone out of their way to crush the memories of my friend's brother all for the sake of a replica football shirt worth £40.
I left my friend with my condolences and I have since not stopped thinking about the sick individuals that did this.
I am therefore appealing to anyone who may know something about this to come forward and report it to Monmouth Police or even their local police station so that justice can be done and these heartless people can be punished for their sick actions.
Richard Jones
(Redbrook)