Crowds line streets for Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s funeral

A horse-drawn carriage took the 18-year-old’s coffin from her home in Leigham, Plymouth, to St Andrew’s Church in Royal Parade.

Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s coffin is carried into the Minster Church of St Andrew in Plymouth (Ben Birchall/PA)
Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s coffin is carried into the Minster Church of St Andrew in Plymouth (Ben Birchall/PA)

Hundreds of people have paid tribute to teenager Bobbi-Anne McLeod at her funeral six months after her murder.

A horse-drawn carriage took the 18-year-old’s coffin from her home in Leigham, Plymouth, to St Andrew’s Church in Royal Parade.

Members of the public lined the streets in Leigham to say goodbye and hundreds of people filled the church for the 40-minute service, which was led by Rev Joe Dent.

Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s coffin is carried out of the church after her funeral (Ben Birchall/PA)

Miss McLeod’s family had asked mourners to wear black trousers and T-shirts featuring rock bands, such as Queen, ACDC, Oasis and Pink Floyd, in honour of the popular student. Many also wore turquoise-coloured ribbons on their T-shirts.

Among the congregation were Lord Mayor of Plymouth Sue Dann, senior police officers and local Conservative MP Johnny Mercer.

The teenager’s turquoise coffin, which had “Bobbi” written on the side, was carried into the church by pallbearers, and her family, including her parents Adrian and Donna and brother Lee, followed behind.

A single red rose and personal tributes to Miss McLeod had been placed on top of the coffin.

Bobbi-Anne McLeod was murdered by musician Cody Ackland in November last year (Devon and Cornwall Police/PA)

As the hearse left the church, people outside broke out into a spontaneous round of applause.

Miss McLeod was murdered in November last year by Cody Ackland, 24, who attacked her with a claw hammer as she waited for a bus.

The musician, who was obsessed with serial killers, then bundled the teenager into his car and drove to a remote spot on Dartmoor where he murdered her, before dumping her body near Bovisand.

Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s coffin was taken to the church in a horse-drawn carriage (Ben Birchall/PA)

Last week, Ackland, from Plymouth, who admitted murder, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 31 years but was told he may never be released.

In a victim impact statement, Miss McLeod’s family said: “Our lives have changed forever. We have not been able to say goodbye to Bobbi-Anne and we can only imagine the things he did to her – the thoughts are continually going around in our minds.

“Why Bobbi-Anne? Why make her suffer? To know her final hours were spent being tortured destroys us inside.”

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Please enter a valid email
Please enter a valid email
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Please enter your first name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
Please enter your last name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
You must be over 18 years old to register
You must be over 18 years old to register
Opt-out-policy
You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe.

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in