Howard Estate residents in Bury St Edmunds launch campaign for plaque to remember two schoolboys and a father who died in the 70s

The lives of two schoolboys and a father from Bury St Edmunds could be remembered with a new plaque almost 50 years after their deaths.

Cllr Paul Hopfensperger and a group of residents on the Howard Estate have sparked a community campaign to have the memorial, dedicated to Christopher Sanders, eight, Paul Bayford, nine, and his father Sidney Leonard ‘Len’ Bayford, 51, installed at Howard Primary School, where both boys were pupils.

Christopher Sanders’ death was logged by the then-headteacher Mr Firth on February 7 1972 as having been caused by flu with which he had been sent home from the school, which at the time was in St Olaves Road, the previous day.

Paul Bayford, the youngest of two brothers, died of appendicitis on June 22 1972 and a tree was later planted in his memory which still stands on the old school site.

Jean Proctor, who lived two doors down from the family in Beeton’s Way and is still good friends with Paul’s mother Gwen, said the youngster’s death was a ‘huge shock’.

“The doctors took him in for observation because he wasn’t in any pain and when they went to operate on him they saw that his appendix had already burst,” she said.

“I went to the hospital with Gwen and I remember the worst bit being Paul begging for a drink and we couldn’t give him one. Gwen was too upset so we left and when we got back, we got a phone call to say he had gone.”

She added that his dad Len, who was found hanged a year and a half later in January 1974, had trouble coping after his son’s death.

“Len was terrible. He hit the walls and he wanted to hold Paul. It was really terrible," she said.

"They were such a close family and I think that was really the end for Len. He never got over it."

Cllr Hopfensperger, who intends to use his locality budget to fund the plaque at the new school in Beard Road if he is re-elected in May, said the story ‘brought him near to tears’ because his son, now 26, had suffered with appendicitis as a 10 year old.

"This story makes me want to cry because I remember when my son went into hospital with appendicitis and thinking 'is he going to die?'," he said.

"I feel quite attached to it. When I think how those parents must have felt at the time and those who were at the school, it must have been so distressing for them having to go through that and I just want to do something to help."

He added: "All three stories are just tragic and each one deserves to be remembered. I think a plaque to all three is the right thing to do."

Laurence Ball, current headteacher at the school, said: “I think it’s a really important thing if it’ll help support these families through something which is obviously still something they are working through decades on.

"It’ll be good for them and good for the community.”