A VICAR yesterday condemned the ''devilish influence'' in society when
he conducted a memorial service for little Sophie Hook, who was found
murdered a week ago.
Canon Trevor Davies told a congregation in Colwyn Bay, North Wales,
which included seven-year-old Sophie's parents and family: ''We are all
here with one purpose: to show we are a body of people who care.
''We are a body of people who love and a body of people who are
prepared to support people in distress.''
Canon Davies said the 300-strong congregation at St Paul's Church of
Wales was a microcosm of society outside.
''But outside there is also an influence -- thankfully one that one
rarely finds in church -- an influence devilish in origin which condemns
people to exploit the vulnerable, murder the helpless, mug the elderly,
frighten the stranger, to be a law unto themselves,'' he said.
''Is there any wonder at all that people are generally frightened,
that they can't understand what is happening in their society?''
Sophie, of Great Budworth, Cheshire, was found dead on the beach at
nearby LLandudno a week ago yesterday. A 30-year-old local man, Howard
Hughes, appeared in court on Friday charged with her murder.
In the congregation, which included many children, were Sophie's
parents, Chris, 37, and Julie, 34. They walked into the stone-built
church hand-in-hand with their other children, Jemma, 9, Joseph, 5, and
carrying baby Ellie, 21 months.
Canon Davies greeted them at the church door. He kissed Mrs Hook and
shook her husband's hand. Mr Hook is a sales manager and his wife a
supply teacher.
Also there were Sophie's aunt and uncle, Danny and Fiona Jones, and
their children Luke, 9, Alex, 6, Jacob, 4, and two-year-old Callum. Mrs
Jones is Julie Hook's sister.
Sophie was camping in 39-year-old Mr Jones's garden when she was
abducted and murdered.
Mrs Hook's parents, Pearl and Mike Roberts, were also among other
relatives present yesterday. They joined local people in the large, airy
85-year-old church which dominates the popular seaside resort.
The two detectives who led the hunt, Superintendent Eric Jones and
Chief Inspector John Williams, went along with their families.
Canon Davies told the congregation: ''Let us make this service as
happy as we can.''
He said of Sophie's family: ''Here this morning they have forgotten
their sadness because they have come here as representatives of all the
families outside who have fallen innocent victims of people who decided
to live outside the law to satisfy their own selfish grievances, urges,
and desires.''
Canon Davies added: ''Last Sunday's nightmare experience is so
haunting, they (Sophie's family) will continue to remember it all their
lives. And the experience of being kissed by vivacious, fun-loving
Sophie is one that will be remembered for a lifetime.''
During the service, which lasted nearly 90 minutes, a collection was
made for the Sophie Hook Memorial Fund.
Her funeral will be held next Friday at Great Budworth.
Villagers at Great Budworth, near Northwich, Cheshire, where the Hook
family are regular worshippers at the parish church, remembered Sophie
in their prayers yesterday.
The congregation of 41, including families with young children and
toddlers, heard the vicar, the Rev Derek Mills, speak of the Hook family
and their grief.
Mr Mills, who arrived back at the twelfth-century church from a
working holiday in Germany on Monday, the day after Sophie's body was
found, relayed a message from her parents, Julie and Chris Hook,
thanking the congregation for its support.
''They would love to be here but feel it is more appropriate they go
over to north Wales where there is a service for Sophie. I am sure our
prayers are with them in their grief,'' he said.
* Police were continuing their widespread search yesterday for the
murder weapon that killed 13-year-old Northern Ireland schoolboy Darren
Fawns.
The RUC scoured a golf course in Antrim, near Lough Neagh, for the
second time in in 24 hours as the hunt continued for his killer.
The body of Darren, from Repulse Court, Antrim, has still not been
released by the authorities, so the funeral -- originally planned for
today -- cannot go ahead.
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