‘Her whole life ahead of her’: Hundreds expected to remember Bobbi-Anne McLeod at vigil in Plymouth
An 18-year-old whose life was "cruelly snatched away" is to be remembered as hundreds are expected to gather at a vigil in Plymouth.
Bobbi-Anne McLeod, a college student, disappeared from a bus stop in Plymouth in Devon last Saturday. A body believed to be hers was discovered near Bovisand in South Hams, less than a 30-minute drive away from where she vanished, after a three-day search.
Cody Ackland, a rock musician, was arrested on Tuesday and has now been charged with her murder. The 24-year-old man appeared before magistrates on Friday.
Charlotte Holloway, a community campaigner who has helped organise the vigil at Smeaton's Tower at 6pm, said: ”The tragic murder of Bobbi-Anne McLeod is a devastating loss for us here in Plymouth.
“She was just 18 years old - all she did was go out to catch a bus at 6pm. She had her whole life ahead of her, and that life was cruelly taken away.
“This will be a moment of mourning, reflection and togetherness for our city to come together and pay their respects.”
Ms Holloway, who is the former Labour parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Moor View - where Ms McLeod lived - noted the vigil comes just one day after the International Elimination of Violence Against Women Day.
She added: “It reminds us that we shouldn’t have to wear bright colours when we walk home and clutch our keys in our fists to feel safe. It’s wrong that the response to violence against women requires women to behave differently.”
The event will remember Ms McLeod and say “loud and clear, women are not the problem,” she said.
At a previous vigil held for the teenager on Thursday night, her distraught mother thanked the community of Leigham for their support.
She said: “Thank you for doing everything to try and find her and bring our baby home.”
It comes after thousands of people went to 'Reclaim the Night' marches across the West Country to raise awareness of violence against women and girls on Thursday evening. An equivalent protest is planned on Bryanston Street in Central London on Saturday at 6pm.
An average of between two and three women are murdered each week by their partners or ex-partners in England and Wales, while one in four women will suffer domestic abuse at some point during their lives.
A survey by UN Women carried out earlier in the year found 97 per cent of young women in the UK said they had been sexually harassed, while 80 per cent reported experiencing sexual harassment in public spaces.
Researchers, who polled more than 1,000 women aged between 18 to 24, found the sexual harassment included being groped, followed and coerced into sexual activity.
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