Memorial sculpture to Jack and Paul unveiled in Penistone

Marie Tidball MP, the Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, attended the unveiling of a memorial sculpture dedicated to Jack and Paul Sykes, with their Mum, Claire Throssell MBE, and Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid, at St John the Baptist Church in Penistone.

The memorial sculpture takes the form of a pair of hands, side by side, holding a love heart. It was sculpted by Liz Grundy and is made from Portland stone. The memorial was blessed by Father David Hopkin, who baptised the boys and conducted their funeral after their tragic deaths in 2014.

The sculpture will be permanently located at Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid, who have supported Claire’s campaign to get justice for her boys over the last eleven years. Women’s Aid are a national charity that support women and children facing domestic violence and abuse.

The week before the sculpture was unveiled, Marie voted in Parliament for ‘Jack and Paul’s Law’ - which repeals the presumption of contact. The presumption of contact currently allows parents to have unsupervised contact with their children, even if the parent is a known domestic abuser - as Jack and Paul’s father, who killed them in a house fire, was.

__Marie Tidball MP said: __

“It’s been an absolute honour to campaign alongside my constituent Claire Throssell, since I was elected, to repeal the presumption of contact. It was incredibly emotional to stand alongside Claire as the boys’ statue was unveiled, knowing that Jack and Paul’s Law has started its journey through Parliament.

“Women’s Aid have been working with and supporting Claire for the past eleven years. They are a big part of why we’ve been able to finally see ‘Jack and Paul’s Law’ as part of the Courts and Tribunals Bill in Parliament. It’s such a fitting tribute to this work that the sculpture will permanently reside at Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid.”

It will be a permanent reminder of Claire’s tireless work and Jack and Paul’s legacy through their law change; a change which will save the lives of generations of children to come.”