Tears in the rain as M56 victim Kieran Coupe is laid to rest

Nov 6 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

THE heavens opened as a black horse-drawn carriage brought Kieran Coupe’s small white coffin to Runcorn’s Murdishaw Church yesterday.

Mourners stood in the pouring rain to pay their last respects to the seven-year-old boy who was killed nearly two weeks ago when he and his six-year-old friend, Guy Davies, were hit by three cars as they tried to cross the M56 in Cheshire.

The funeral cortege had already passed the boy’s primary school, where staff and pupils had also braved the downpour to line the road.

At the church, Kieran’s father, dressed in white shirt and beige jacket, was supported by his mother, as his only child’s coffin was carried into the church.

Scores of mourners attended the funeral to pay their last respects to the boy described by the Rev Juliet Wrigglesworth as “lovely,” while dozens of bouquets and a solitary teddy bear filled an entire hearse.

Two floral tributes from the family were placed on the ground outside, one spelling out the schoolboy’s name in white carnations and cream roses with the message: “To my most precious little boy.

“Rest in peace my darling – Nana Joan and Grandad Rocky.”

Kieran’s father, Colin Lambert, 31, only brought the youngster to Runcorn eight weeks ago from his previous home in Mansfield after a lengthy custody battle.

Mr Lambert had said the reason was to give his boy a better life, and revealed that in a bitter twist of irony he had been teaching his son the Green Cross Code on the day of his son’s death.

The devastated father left his own flowers spelling out “Son” in yellow and white.

“To Kieran, my love is always with you. RIP, from daddy,” he wrote.

Inside the modern-built church, which is close to the youngster’s school, the Lord is my Shepherd rang out.

Family, neighbours, friends and well-wishers shed tears as Ms Wrigglesworth spoke of Kieran’s life.

He loved Dr Who, computer games, was full of energy, and was a lovely boy, she said.

She spoke of the hours before his death when he had visited an aunt’s house for biscuits.

And she outlined the agonising hours after the accident when Mr Lambert’s family learned the tragic news.

Guy was laid to rest last week in Warrington.

carolineinnes