Hundreds of mourners have lined the streets of Plymouth for the funeral of murdered teenager Bobbi-Anne McLeod, as city leaders acknowledged that more needs to be done to protect women and girls.
McLeod’s favorite music, alternative rock, was played in the craft at St. Andrew’s Church in the city center and many bad guys wore band t-shirts and black jeans in honor of the 18-year-old.
The funeral took place six months after McLeod was abducted from a bus stop and murdered, and a week after his killer, Cody Ackland, 24, was jailed for at least 30 years.
Outside the church, Johnny Mercer, a Plymouth Moor View MP, said the crime had devastated not only McLeod’s family but the entire city. “Bobbi-Anne was clearly a very special person who touched the hearts of so many people,” she said.
Many bad guys wore band T-shirts and black jeans. Photography: Finnbarr Webster / Getty Images
His November 2021 murder came just three months after Jake Davison, a 22-year-old apprentice crane operator with extreme misogynistic views, shot dead five people in the Keyham area of Plymouth.
Mercer said: “Killing strangers and mass shootings are two of the rarest crimes, but right now it doesn’t feel that way in Plymouth. Women and girls are scared and we have a job to do.”
There were many moving moments. People left flowers and balloons on a memorial bench in front of the bus stop in the Leigham area of the city where McLeod was attacked and then abducted.
McLeod’s coffin was taken in a horse-drawn carriage from a pub parking lot near the hillside bus stop to the church.
Bobbi-Anne McLeod was abducted and murdered in November 2021. Photo: Devon and Cornwall / PA Police
At the door, the bad guys were given blue ribbons, McLeod’s favorite color, and asked for donations for pink bands for charity that said, “My heart is with you forever Bobbi-Anne “. Inside, the songs that were played included Iris, from the American alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls, and a Puff Daddy track.
The bands and musicians McLeod loved — Pink Floyd, Nirvana, AC / DC, Queen, and Eminem — were well represented on mourning T-shirts. People heeded the family’s request not to wear ripped jeans, a piece of clothing McLeod was wearing when she was abducted.
Ackland, a local rock band guitarist who was obsessed with serial killer Ted Bundy, attacked McLeod with a claw hammer before abducting her and carrying out a prolonged assault in a forest, causing injuries. “catastrophic.”
Crimes against women have increased in Devon and Cornwall over the past year. Crime recorded as a whole increased by 11%, but rape increased by 19% and other sex crimes by 29%. Women and girls say they have been afraid to go out alone.
Plymouth City Council is about to release a report from a commission of violence against women and girls set up after McLeod’s murder. The commission is expected to include 15 recommendations, ranging from finding practical ways to make the city safer to trying to change fundamental negative attitudes towards women and girls.
Rebecca Smith, a member of the council’s Household and Communities Cabinet, said: “We’ve been listening and we’re 100% aware of the fear and uncertainty. We recognize that one of the big issues is education and how we change culture.”
Plymouth women told the Guardian they felt insecure and angry. The mother of an 18-year-old said her daughter had suffered “extreme sexual threats” at a bus stop before McLeod’s murder.
“We spent weeks taking her to college because the bus stops were now a scary place,” he said. “After the counseling, she felt strong enough to catch the buses again and then went through the terrible murder. I’m afraid of her every time she goes to find friends at night. Even during the day she runs a glove. Screams and looks are the norm. “
A 25-year-old woman who met Ackland said: “A lot of women I talk to in Plymouth are very angry. How dare I not be safe. Personally, I’ve been afraid to walk at night.”
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